Holding On and Letting Go
by Kates89
Summary: Chasing a suspect leads to disastrous consequences for our CSI's D/L
1. Chapter 1

**This is my new story, it properly won't get updated as often as my other two do but I wanted to get this first chapter up, see what everyone thinks of it. I want to say a big thank you to GeorgeAndrews for being giving me inspiration to write this story and also being helpful and supportive!**

'_It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't  
It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed  
Some prayers find an answer  
Some prayers never know  
We're holding on and letting go'_

(Holding on and letting go by Ross Copperman)

Danny slammed his hands against the steering wheel of the Avalanche, how could he of been so stupid to have done It again, he could understand why he had the first time 3 years ago, he had had a lot on his mind back then, He had just married Lindsay and she was heavily pregnant in Montana. But he had no excuse for why had forgotten his vest today, he was sure he had packed it but it wasn't in the truck he had looked multiple times. So again he was made to wait in the car while Flack and Hawkes went to get the suspect.

He was honestly quite happy to sit in the car and wait, sure he was annoyed he couldn't be in there helping the other two, but he couldn't risk going in there without a vest. He realised soon after the last time it happened when he was cleaning the blood off his hands how reckless he had been, seeing the blood on his wedding ring and Lindsay's name came up on his phone made him realise how much he would be leaving behind if something had happened to him. There was no way now that he would leave Lindsay as a widow and Lucy without a father, they both meant much more to him that his job ever would.

He sat with his police radio on watching the abandoned factory that Flack and Hawkes had entered less that 10 minutes ago, he hadn't heard a thing yet. No speaking, no gunshots, nothing. He hoped that it meant it was going well inside, they obviously hadn't been spotted by the suspect yet, shots would have definitely been fired if they had. Edward Rogers, the suspect was a loose cannon; they had been after him for a week now, but the case had gone on much longer. It was only because he had left his print at a crime scene that they finally managed to track down who had been on the murder spree.

For the past week they had been trying to track down all his last known addresses, last place of work, parent's address all had come to a dead end, he had just seemed to of vanished. Thankfully though he had been arrested before for a DUI so his picture was on the database and Adam being the genius that he was had managed to spot him on one of the security cameras about an hour ago. Flack Danny and Hawkes had headed out to find him, With Adam keeping a watch on him from the security cameras back at the lab he had been able to lead the other three to the abandoned factory where Edward had ended up.

Danny sighed resting his head back on the headrest, Time was passing slowly, he just wanted some sort of conformation that everything was going okay inside. No news was good news though. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his wallet, opening it up he smiled at the picture of Lucy that sat inside, she was sat on the grass in her lilac summer dress, smiling up at the camera, her honey blonde hair up in two high pigtails and her blue eyes shining. He ran his finger over her face, taking in all her little features even though he already knew them all like the back of his hand. He closed the wallet, slipping it back into his trouser pocket.

Danny rubbed his hands over his face, still annoyed at himself for forgetting his vest; he knew he would be in trouble when Mac found out. He was tempted to get his phone out and call Mac now letting him know what had happened, it wouldn't help the situation though, so he decided to wait till they got back to the lab to tell him. He checked his watch; 16 minutes had now passed since they had entered the factory. Danny had expected it to take a while to track Edward down, the factory was huge. Thankfully there was a couple of security cameras around, so Adam was still back at the lab watching, making sure that he didn't escape from the back of the factory.

Danny started to tap his foot; he had never been good at the whole waiting thing, Lindsay told him he was worse than Lucy when it ever came to waiting for anything like dinner or a film to start. He hoped Lindsay hadn't found his vest, sometimes she would go into his locker to leave him little notes or to borrow some shampoo if she had run out or forgotten hers. If she went in today and saw his vest sat there she would panic, she had heard about the last time, he told her as soon as she arrived back from Montana as he had promised himself he would never keep secrets from her again. Not after the last time when he had slept with Rikki, he knew that she knew he had cheated on her but neither of them had ever been willing to bring that up, so now it was just something that wasn't spoken about but since then he never kept anything from her.

He didn't want Lindsay to worry about him; he picked up his phone, sending her a quick text: _I know my vest is in my locker, I'm sat in the car, haven't gone in. I love you xx _He knew that if she hadn't of been in his locker, that if she was at the lab she would be headed there now, checking for his vest, Not that she didn't trust him, it was just something she did just to confirm for herself that it was there hanging up. He loved her so much, her and Lucy were his entire world, he never thought he would fall in love, but now he couldn't imagine not being in love with Lindsay, he didn't want to even think about a life without her in it.

His phone beeped, he smiled when he saw it was from Lindsay: _can't believe you've done it again! Mac's not gonna be happy with you : P I love you too xx_ he knew she wouldn't tell Mac, she would never rat him out for something like that, she would leave it for him to do, he swore she loved standing just outside the door watching him squirm when he had to tell Mac something he had done wrong.

Not that he did a lot of things wrong; it was just sometimes he did things Danny's way rather than the NYPD way. Like when he had beaten up Michael Elgers after his racial comments to Hawkes, which had made his blood boil, No one spoke to someone he cared about like that. He completely lost it and ending up getting a two week suspension. Even though that meant he got two weeks off to spend with Lindsay before Lucy came along, Lindsay hadn't been happy that he had got himself two weeks unpaid suspension so close to the arrival of their daughter.

Danny took another look at his watch 25 minutes had now passed and he had still not heard a thing. He couldn't even radio them to ask if they were okay as it would draw unwanted attention to the two of them. He was bored of sitting in the car, so he got out taking the radio with him he took a little stroll around the Avalanche just to stretch his legs. Danny wasn't one to just sit down and do nothing. He was always up doing something whether it was chasing criminals, working on evidence at the lab or playing with Lucy. The only time he did sit down and do nothing was when a baseball game was on the TV, but he still liked to class that as doing something as he was watching the game.

He leant against the side of the bonnet, watching the factory. There had still been nothing to suggest that any activity was going on inside, he hadn't heard anything from Adam either which meant the suspect was still in there. It was a windy day and he only had on his vest and a white shirt over the top, he shivered slightly as a cold gust hit him. He decided he was probably better off sitting inside the car.

Settling back into the driver's seat, he fiddled with his wedding ring, sliding it up and down his finger never fully taking it off though; he would never do that again. He looked up when he heard a gunshot. He knew that Flack and Hawkes had spotted the suspect or he had spotted them. More shots were fired, he tried to keep count of how many, 6 or 7 he couldn't be quite sure. Then there was silence, no noise, nothing for about thirty seconds then more shots sounded, more this time he counted 12 altogether. His hand came to rest on the gun at his side, he was itching to get in there but looking down at his left hand which was still on the steering wheel and seeing his wedding band, he knew he wasn't going anywhere.

The silence was longer this time; he waited, waiting for more shots to sound or for Flack to come over the radio to say the suspect had been caught. Nothing came. Then after 2 minutes a single shot sounded then more silence, he hated the silence. The radio then came to life, but it wasn't Flack voice who spoke like he had expected, it was Hawkes who came across the radio "We have an officer down at the old abandoned sweet factory; we need a bus here ASAP"

Danny knew that meant Flack, Flack his best friend was injured. He needed to be there, without even thinking he got out the avalanche and ran towards the factory, towards Flack, towards the suspect who was still armed with his gun in the building.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for my lovely reveiws for chapter one, they were the icing on the cake for the perfect day I've had! Finally got my net book back, so thought I'd upload chapter two for you all :) Enjoy and let me know what you think :)**

Mac stood just out of sight watching his peppiest CSI working on a piece of evidence, a t-shirt from her latest case; she looked happy, carefree and relaxed. He was about to put an end to that, bringing her world crashing down. He couldn't bring himself to go in there; he just stood watching her look over the t-shirt with a microscope. He leant his head back against the wall, he was her boss, it was his responsibility and he would rather she heard this from him than anyone else. He stood up and made his way into the evidence lab, she looked up when she heard him enter.

"Hey Mac" she gave him a warm smile "I've been looking over this t-shirt, but I can't find anything on it that can link us to our suspect but I'm going to run this green substance I've found through EDNA, maybe she'll be able…"

"Lindsay" Mac interrupted her.

"Sorry I'm rambling" she said

"No, No it's not that, I just… I need to talk to you"

"Sounds serious Mac" she gave him a worried look.

"It is Lindsay, I… let's go and speak in my office"

"Yeah sure" she replied, taking off her gloves slowly, she followed Mac out the evidence lab, throwing the gloves in the bin as she passed it.

Once they got to Mac's office, Mac motioned for Lindsay to sit down on his couch, he sat next to her "As you know Hawkes, Flack and Danny are chasing a suspect as we speak"

Lindsay nodded "Is this about the vest? I know it's the second time Mac, but he just forgot don't punish him for it"

"The vest?"

"Yeah, Danny forgot to bring his bullet proof vest again but he text me, he stayed in the car this time Mac, he wouldn't risk his life again I know he wouldn't"

"This isn't about the vest Lindsay"

"Oh" She looked confused, fiddling with her the bottom of her lab coat nervously.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but there has been a hostage situation at the factory where the suspect ended up"

"But Danny's okay? I mean he wasn't in the factory he was in the car, so he's okay right?"

"I'm afraid not, all we know at the moment is shots were fired and a bus was called for over the radio. Danny heard there was an officer down and a bus was needed, so he went in Lindsay, he went into the factory to help whoever is injured"

"So he is being held hostage?"

"Yes, from what I've been told the three of them are all being held hostage by Edward Rogers"

"But we can get them out right? Like we did when the Irish mobsters held Danny and Adam hostage"

"We are trying Lindsay, but I'm not going to lie to you, it doesn't seem as simple this time. This guy is psychologically unstable; we have requested his medical records and are waiting for them to come through"

Lindsay wiped her eyes, not wanting cry in front of Mac, she would save the tears for when she was alone. Her hand came to rest on her stomach. "I want to help"

"Lindsay you know I can't let you do that now, it's too personal for you now Danny is involved"

Lindsay nodded "I guessed you'd say that"

"Look, go home Lindsay, spend time with Lucy. I promise to keep you informed about what's happening"

"How am I meant to explain to a three year old that her Daddy has been taken hostage?"

"You don't, she won't know any difference tonight and I'm hoping we will have them out of there before the morning"

"So do I" she replied, now not being able to stop the tears the fell down her cheeks.

Mac lent in giving Lindsay a hug "He'll be okay Lindsay"

Lindsay hugged him back "I hope your right Mac" she sat up wiping her tears.

"I'm sorry I had to tell you this"

"No Mac, I'm glad it was you who did" she stood up "I guess I'll go and get Lucy from pre-school"

"Okay Lindsay, I'll give you a ring in an hour or sooner if I hear anything else"

"Thanks Mac" she replied, she made her way from Mac's office down to the locker room, opening her locker, she pulled out a rectangle box and sat on the bench with it. Looking at it she began to cry again, she was going to give it to Danny today when he got back, they had been discussing for a while about having a second baby and now this piece of plastic that was sat in the box in her hand confirmed that it was actually going to happen. She now wondered if he would ever know.

She stood up, placing the box on the bench, she took her lab coat off and hung it up in her locker, she put her jacket on, picking up the box she slipped it into her bag, then left making her way to Lucy's pre-school.

Mac sat in his office chair with his head back and his eyes closed. He was wondering why things could never be simple in his line of work. He got that people killed others but why did they then have to take it out on his people, the ones that just wanted to help and do good. He opened his eyes when he heard the door open.

"Mac Taylor what is that look for?" Jo asked placing her shopping bags on the couch.

"Jo, while you've been enjoying your day off, three of our guys went out to catch a suspect and are now being held hostage"

"Oh my, who?" she asked, sitting down on the chair opposite him.

"Danny, Hawkes and Flack" he replied. "We know Flack is injured"

"This doesn't sound good, why are we not down there?"

"Chief Sinclair has sent down some people from the negotiation team, I said we would be down there once I had informed the others"

"Lindsay and Adam?" she asked

"Just Adam, I've told Lindsay, she was rather upset which is quite understandable so I've sent her home to spend some time with Lucy, I couldn't of used her down at the factory anyway, she's too involved to work the case"

Jo nodded, understanding "Well I guess I best put this shopping in my locker and get ready to work"

"No, Jo it's your day off"

"Mac, you are now missing Flack and three CSI's, there is no way I'm letting you and Adam deal with this alone"

"Thanks Jo, I appreciate it" he gave her a small smile.

"There is no need to thank me Mac Taylor, I'm just doing my job" she stood up, picking up her bags from the couch "I'll put these away, give Ellie a ring to let her know not to expect me home and then I'll be free to do whatever you need me to do"

"Okay, well I'll go and inform Adam then I'll meet you in the conference room with him in ten minutes" he replied standing up.

"Okay, see you then" Jo said exiting Mac's office.

Mac sighed, then made his way to the AV lab to break the news to Adam.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all your lovely reviews, I'm so glad you are all enjoying this story. It's my favourite one out of the four I've done, Let me know what you think of this chapter and enjoy :)**

Danny signed leaning back against the wall of the room he was locked in. What was up with him today he thought, first he forgot his vest and then he ran into the abandoned factory without even giving a second thought to the fact the suspect was still in there. He could kick himself, he had just sat in the Avalanche for over half hour telling himself he wouldn't go in without a vest because he did want to risk getting injured or killed and then he stupidly ran into the building without thinking because he heard "officer down."

He didn't have a clue where the other two were right now. He had seen them for all of about five minutes when he had entered Flack had blood on his arm but didn't look seriously hurt; Hawkes had ripped the sleeve of his shirt off and was wrapping it around the wound. Hawkes had looked up spotting him approaching and tried to use his head to tell Danny to get out but Danny being Danny had ignored him and gone towards them. That's when Edward had spotted him and jumped him before Danny had even had a chance to realise what was happening. Edward had tied his hands behind his back and dragged him to his feet. Shoving his gun into Danny's back he led him to the room he was currently in. Taking Danny's gun and radio he left saying he would be back to deal with him later, locking the door behind him.

Danny had no idea how Edward even had keys to the factory, maybe he had been using this place a while and managed to get the locks changed he thought. Danny struggled to try and free his arms from behind his back, the knot was done up tightly and the rope was starting to cut into his wrists. The more Danny struggled the tighter the rope felt. He looked around the room for something he could use to try and cut the rope with, but there was nothing just a desk with a computer chair, a filing unit and a couple of old posters for different sweets on the wall.

He hoped the other two hadn't been separated; especially as Flack was injured he would need Hawkes with his medical knowledge around. Maybe Edward would let Flack go get the treatment he needed, Danny guessed that wouldn't happen though, the three of them were now his leverage, his bargaining chips. He wasn't going to just let one walk away.

Danny remembered the last time he had been in this situation with the Irish mobsters; his day had gone from being the best day of his life to one of the worst days in a matter of hours. He hated the fact that being held hostage tainted his memory of the first time he woke up with Lindsay in his arms.

Lindsay, he bet Mac would have been informed about the situation now and told her. She would have to go through the worry of losing him again. It had happened too many times for his liking, first being when he was held hostage the first time, although they had only just got together then. The second time was the shooting at the bar after Jessica Angell died; Lindsay had spent weeks sat by his bedside in the hospital, with new born Lucy in her arms. Then there was the time with Shane Casey on the roof of the light house, when she didn't know who had fallen over the side.

He sat thinking about what she had told him that evening once they had arrived back at their apartment how she was tired of feeling like she'd lost him. He promised her though that he wasn't going anywhere and up until this point in time he had kept that promise. He was hoping he could still keep it, that he would get out of here alive, be able to go back home to Lindsay and Lucy. Edward had killed six people though, he had no morals, no conscience and that scared Danny more than he cared to admit.

He had to get out of this room, he managed to stand himself up, walking over he plonked himself down on the computer chair. Looking up he noticed a sky light, not that it was any use to him, he had no way of getting up there even without his hands tied behind his back.

Danny looked over at the filing cabinet an idea coming to him. Standing up he made his way over, he managed to pull open the middle drawer, hooking his hands over the now opened drawer he rubbed the rope against the corner hoping if he did it long enough it would snap.

Half an hour later Danny was getting frustrated, but he could feel the ropes getting weaker, looser on his wrists so he carried on. Suddenly he felt the rope snap, he pulled his hands free, rubbing his sore wrists. He was free finally. Making his way over to the door he tried the handle, it was definitely locked. "Damn it!" he shouted, kicking the filing cabinet in frustration. He put his hands behind his head, linking his fingers together, sighing and going back over to sit on the computer chair.

Tapping his fingers on the desk, he kept an eye on the door, Edward said he would be back, so where was he? Danny hoped that he wasn't torturing Hawkes or Flack. He jumped when he felt something against his leg. "What on earth?" he said out loud. Standing up he touched his leg from where he felt the movement. That's when he realised it was his phone, Edward had forgotten to take his phone. Finally he thought, this is my way out of here. He knew though he had to be careful, remembering last time when he tried to use his phone during his first hostage situation, he ended up with broken fingers. Sometimes his fingers still hurt if the weather was cold.

He took another look at the door, slowly sliding his phone out his pocket just far enough so he could read the text he had received '_Danny, I doubt you will get this text, but I needed to contact you, I'm scared. Please be safe! I love you xx' _Danny smiled and sent her a quick text back '_Montana I'm safe, I love you. Don't know about others; don't reply though I'll text you when it's safe xx'_ he put her nickname so she knew it was him. He turned his phone off to save the battery then slipped it from his pocket into his sock, covering it with his trousers, hoping Edward would never think to look there.

Danny sat back in the chair, he felt more positive now he had his phone. Now he just had to wait for Edward to come back.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm concentrating on this story a lot more than my other two so I'm getting it typed up faster than I expected too! **

**Thank you for all your lovely reviews, they really make my day :) Enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think :)**

"I thought Daddy was picking me up today" Lucy asked skipping along the sidewalk next to Lindsay.

Lindsay took a deep breath, trying to stop the tears from falling again "He got caught up at work Luce"

"Oh okay" Lucy replied taking hold of Lindsay's hand, starting to walk instead of skip "Will he be home in time to read me a bed time story?"

"I'm not sure Lucy, we will see okay?" She hated lying to her daughter but she would rather tell her this little white lie than tell her the truth, that her father is being held hostage by some crazy murderer. She thought if it did come to the worst and something happened to Danny then she would think of something to tell Lucy and their unborn child, but right now she didn't want to think of that, she decided to take things hour by hour.

"Whats for dinner?" Lucy asked changing the subject.

"What would you like?"

"Mac and cheese"

"Well mac and cheese we shall have" Lindsay smiled; glad it was something easy to cook.

"Yay" Lucy replied excitedly as they rounded the corner into their street "Can we have ice cream for pudding?"

"I think we might be able to manage that if you eat all your mac and cheese up"

"I'm gonna eat it all I promise"

"I'll hold you to that" Lindsay smiled as they approached their front door. she found her key in her bag, slipped it into the lock and undid the door "Right Lucy, got put your school bag in your bedroom for me as we won't be needing it now till Monday"

Lucy nodded as she kicked her shoes off, then leaving her backpack on she ran up stairs.

Lindsay took her own shoes and coat off then made her way into the kitchen, sitting down at the table, she rested her head on her hands and sighed. She had told Danny before that she couldn't keep feeling like she had lost him, yet it was happening again. She didn't know whether he would come home and she knew that was pessimistic and completely out of character for her but she had seen hostage situations before that had ended with someone dying, she knew there was a chance he wouldn't get out alive and that thought scared her a lot. Rubbing her stomach she looked up an smiled when she heard Lucy enter the kitchen with a puzzle in her hand.

"Will you help me with this Mummy?" She asked, showing her the woodland fairy puzzle.

"Sure" Lindsay smiled "Let's go back into the sitting room"

Lucy turned around making her way back to the sitting room, she sat on the floor and opened the puzzle box, tipping the contents on the floor.

Lindsay sat down next to her "remember before we start we need to separate the edges from the middle pieces"

Lucy held a piece up, running her finger along the straight side she looked at Lindsay and asked "Is this an edge?"

"Yeah that's an edge, clever girl" she replied placing a couple of middle pieces she had found into the pile.

Lucy found a few more edge pieces, placing them down in the pile "I'm good at this"

"You are" Lindsay smiled "You carry on, I just need to check my phone"

"Okay" Lucy said leaning over to pick up another piece.

Lindsay went into the kitchen to pick up her phone which she had left on the side, there was no call from Mac, No news was good news she told herself. Then she had an idea, getting up a blank text she sent Danny a text '_Danny I doubt you'll get this text, but I needed to contact you. I'm scared. please be safe! I love you xx' _she knew it was pointless as the first thing the suspect would have done was take their weapons and anything they could use to communicate with but she had to send it to make herself feel better.

She went over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water and a cup of juice for Lucy. she began to make her way back into the sitting room when her phone beeped, going back over, placing the cups on the side she picked it up seeing a message from Danny, guessing that the suspect had decided to text her, she opened it, planning to forward it to Mac, that's when she saw what it said '_Montana I'm safe, I love you. Don't know about others; Don't reply though I'll text you when its safe xx'_ She smiled, he had used the word 'Montana' so it had to be him messaging her. The suspect wouldn't have known that nickname and Danny wouldn't have told him.

"Mummy" Lucy called from the living room "I've sorted them"

"Okay baby, I'm coming" Lindsay replied slipping her phone into her pocket and carrying both cups into the sitting room settling them on the table then sitting down to join Lucy.

"see?" Lucy smiled pointing at the now sorted puzzle pieces.

"Luce, you are so clever"

"No we've got to fix it together" she said looking through the edge pieces for the corner.

"Yeah we do" Lindsay told her, taking her phone back out her pocket she scrolled through finding Mac's number, she had to tell him about the message.

"Mummy are you helping me?"

"Yeah I'm helping" Lindsay lent forward, finding another corner piece in the pile she passed it to Lucy "There you go"

"Thank you" Lucy replied setting it down with the other piece she had found.

"Lucy, I've just got to make a really quick phone call then I'm all yours okay?" Lindsay asked standing back up.

"Can't you phone after the puzzle?"

"It's important Luce, I'll try to be quick though I promise"

"Okay" Lucy let out a little sigh, then went looking for another corner.

Lindsay started to walk to the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. slipping her phone back into her pocket she walked over to the front door and opened it. She gasped when she saw who was on the other side.

"Suprise!"


	5. Chapter 5

**This story is slowly becoming something that I'm quite proud to say is mine :) I want to say again though a massive thank you to my friend GeorgeAndrews, She's really helped me by going over the story for me and letting me run ideas past her :D Thank you to everyone who has reviewed as well! I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)**

Danny was resting his head on his arms on the table, his eyes were shut he was thinking of his family of Lindsay and Lucy. The thought of them was what was keeping him going, he had to get out alive, he wanted to see Lucy grow up, he wanted to be able to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, watch her have her own children, his grandchildren. He needed to be there for Lindsay too, he wanted to grow old with her.

He looked up when the door unlocked, Edward dragged Flack's unconscious body in and dumped him on the floor by the desk "You need to watch him"

"What happened to him?" Danny asked getting off the chair and kneeling down next to Flack.

"Tried to be a smart ass didn't he so I taught him a lesson" Edward told Danny as he made his way to the door "Your other friend will be helping me for a while, so you need to watch this one don't let him die, I need you three alive for now anyway" he then walked out the door closing and locking it behind him.

Danny looked over Flack's body thankfully his chest was still rising and falling. His face was red the first sign of bruising, Danny knew Flack's face wasn't gonna be a pretty sight in a few days. Flack's arm was still bandaged by Hawkes shirt sleeve which had now been dyed a dark red. Flack's shirt had been torn in numerous places and there were more red marks on his chest and stomach. "Oh Flack I knew your wise ass remarks would get you in trouble one day" Danny sighed he carefully moved Flack laying him in the recovery position to make sure his airway stayed open. He looked around for something to lay over him to keep him warm but of course there was nothing.

Danny leant against the wall near Flack talking random nonsense just to keep himself sane and also because the chances were Flack could hear him as your hearing was the last sense to go. "Flack I can't believe you've left me and Hawkes to deal with this alone while you have a nice little kip, I call that slacking" he laughed to himself, trying to make light of the situation. "I hope Hawkes is okay, not sure I could handle being in here alone knowing you were both injured, Why is it always me that ends up in these situations? I'm not sure I can do it any longer though Flack especially now I've got Lindsay and Lucy. What if one day me and Lindsay go out together to a scene and get held hostage or something worse, what would happen to Lucy? I can't even think of her growing up alone Flack, I think I've come to that time again in my life where I need to start re-evaluating what I want" Danny pulled his knees to his chest wrapping his arms around them "Come on Flack, open them eyes" Flack didn't respond.

Danny looked over at the door, then he carefully slipped his phone from his sock, he switched it on and waited for it to load up "Flack I'm gonna try calling Mac, let him know the two of us are okay... well as okay as can be expected" he searched through his phone finding Mac's number, then standing up he went and lent against the door, he pressed call and placed the phone against his ear, it rang a couple of times then Mac answered.

"Danny?" he asked sounded slightly confused.

"Yeah Mac it's me" Danny replied in a whisper.

"What's going on?"

"Edward, he forgot to take my phone off of me, I'm Locked in a room at the moment with Flack"

"Are you both okay?"

"I'm good, but Flack is unconscious at the moment, pretty bruised up too"

"Okay, well just keep him warm, where's Hawkes?"

"I'm not sure"

"Okay, well keep your phone on but on silent, we are outside the factory but we can use your signal to triangulate where you are okay?"

"Okay Mac, Just hurry and get us out of here"

"We will Danny" Mac replied

Danny cut off and slid his phone back into his sock, he then went back over to Flack sitting down next to him "Their outside Flack, Mac and the rest of them their out there, they will get us out soon"

Danny stood up and began to pace the room, time passed, Danny wasn't sure how long had passed but it felt like hours, he slipped his phone out to check, it was just twenty minutes. He looked over at Flack who was still laid unconscious on the floor, Danny knew he needed medical attention sooner rather than later.

An idea came to him, going over to the door he checked the lock, it didn't look like a difficult lock to pick, now he just needed something to pick it with. He went over to the desk opening the drawers trying to see if there was a paper clip or even a bobby pin inside one of them that he could use, but they were all empty.

He sighed, walking back over to the door, he was tempted to just boot it open like he had with numerous doors before but he didn't want Edward to hear him escaping. He needed to surprise him and disarm him, then he could find Hawkes and together they could get Flack out of the building. He wasn't very confident with his plan but at the moment it was the only one he had. He just had to find a way out of the door first.

He then remembered he had put his credit card in his wallet this morning as he needed to get cash from the machine. Normally his card sat at home in a drawer as he liked to use cash rather than card so he was thankful that he had brought it with him today. He got his wallet out of his pocket, opening it he smiled at the picture of Lucy and gave it a kiss, then he pulled his credit card out planning to use it to jimmy the lock. Sliding it in the gap between the door and the wall he wiggled it trying to pop the lock open, the last time he opened a door like this he had been seventeen and Louie had been with him telling him what to do.

After a few unsuccessful attempts the lock finally popped "boom" Danny smiled pleased with his work. He went back over to check on Flack "I'm gonna try and get us out of here okay, you just stay here I won't be long" he went back over to the door, opening it slowly he looked around the corridor making sure there was no sign of Edward, there wasn't, so he snuck out the door, closing it behind him he slowly made his way along the empty corridor.

Mac stood outside with Adam, Jo, and some other members of the force as well as some hostage negotiators and paramedics. They were about to make their entrance, everything was planned, they would go in the back entrance, it was close to the room that Flack and Danny were in. Mac took one last look at the computer screen that had Danny's position on "Stop" he shouted "Change of plan"

"What's wrong?" Jo asked coming over to look at the screen.

"Danny's on the move, Edward could be with him" Mac replied.

"So what? Now we just sit and wait?" Adam said as he came over to join his bosses.

"I guess we need to wait till Danny makes contact again, lets us know it's safe" Jo told the young lab tech.

They all stood around silently watching the screen, watching Danny move slowly through the building.

Half an hour had passed and Danny's signal had been still for about five minutes "I say we chance it and just go in" Jo said breaking the silence.

"We will need to check with the negotiators see what they suggest" Mac replied starting to head over to where negotiators were huddled together by their van.

"this brings back awful memories" Adam blurted out.

"How come?" Jo asked

"Me and Danny were in a situation before a bit like this" he replied holding out his hands to show Jo the scars left by the cigarette burns he had received

"Oh dear lord, Adam you poor th..." Jo was cut off by the sound of a single gun shot coming from inside the factory.


	6. Chapter 6

**You finally get to find out who was at the door, Hope it was worth the wait? :) I need to stop posting these so fast but I just get so excited to get them out! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

Lindsay's jaw dropped open in shock as Stella Bonasera bustled her way into the small hallway with her suitcase.

"Stella? What the hell are you doing here?" Lindsay asked, mouth still open.

"Your lovely husband invited me to stay for the week" laughed Stella, completely unaware of the inopportune moment she'd picked for her visit.

"Danny did?" Lindsay asked biting her lip, trying to hold back the tears that once again threatened to fall

"Yeah we organised it weeks ago, so where is he?" Stella asked looking over Lindsay's shoulder for her blond haired friend.

"Auntie Stella" Lucy squealed coming out of the sitting room and running into Stella's arms "I thought I heard you"

"Hey Lucy, I've missed you" Stella smiled picking the three year old up.

"I've missed you too" Lucy replied resting her head on Stella's shoulder.

"So is Danny at work?" Stella asked Lindsay.

"Erm.. Yeah he is" she replied giving a little nod in Lucy's direction with an 'I'll tell you later' look

"Okay, so where shall I take this?" she asked referring to her suitcase.

"Upstairs but I'm sorry Stell, I had no idea you were coming, if you give me 5 minutes I'll sort the spare room out for you, put clean bedding on the bed and take out Lucy's toys that she plays with in there" Lindsay smiled heading over to the stairs.

"You don't need to apologise Linds" Stella replied then watched her friend make her way up the stairs. "Lucy, can you just go and play in the sitting room for a minute? I just need to talk to your Mummy" Stella placed Lucy back on the floor.

"Okay Auntie Stella" Lucy replied running back off into the sitting room.

Stella made her way up the stairs, once she reached the top she could hear Lindsay sobbing from the spare room "Linds?" She asked pushing the door open and stepping in. Lindsay was sat on the bed in a tangle of old and new sheets sobbing, Stella ran over joining her on the bed and pulled her in for a cuddle "Oh Lindsay, what's wrong?"

"Everything" Lindsay sobbed.

"I'm sure it's not everything Lindsay, start from the beginning and tell me what's wrong"

Lindsay took a deep breath "Danny, Hawkes and Flack went out to chase a suspect today and now they are being held hostage in some old factory" Lindsay sniffed and wiped her eyes "The suspect is really unstable Stell, he has already killed six people"

Stella hugged Lindsay tighter "They'll get them out Lindsay and Danny's strong he won't go out without a fight"

"But what if something does happen, I'll be left to raise two children al..." Lindsay stopped realising what she had said.

"Two?" Stella asked raising her eyebrow.

Lindsay nodded blushing "I found out earlier I was pregnant"

"Congratulations" Stella replied "Does Danny know?"

Lindsay shook her head sadly "What if I never get to tell him?"

"You will Lindsay, he will get out of there"

Lindsay looked up when they heard the patter of little footsteps coming up the stairs "Lucy doesn't know a thing"

"Okay" Stella smiled giving Lindsay one last hug then she stood up grabbing the end of the sheet "Let's do it together"

Lindsay wiped her eyes, giving Stella a small smile "Thank you"

Lucy pushed the door open and came running in, sliding on her socks managing to stop just in front of Lindsay "I got bored"

"Well do you want to help us?" Lindsay asked.

Lucy nodded "I'll take my toys back into my room" She went over picking up her two dolls that were in the corner and carried them to her room.

"Good girl" Lindsay called after her.

"I can't believe how much she's grown" Stella said as she tucked the side of the sheet into the mattress.

"Yeah, she's growing up fast, it's kind of scary" Lindsay admitted "She can even write her own name now so expect to see it on your next birthday card"

"That's cute, I'll look forward to it"

After finishing putting the sheet on the bed, both women put the double duvet into the duvet cover and laid it on the bed. They both sat on the bed while they put the pillows in their cases. "How's New Orleans?" Lindsay asked.

"It's good, really good. A lot different from New York a much slower pace. We even get breathing breaks" Stella smiled, making a little joke from Lindsay's first day.

Lindsay let out a little laugh "I miss breathing breaks"

"It feels so weird being back here" Stella admitted.

"Does anyone else know your here?"

"No, Well not unless Danny told anyone"

"Well then I'm sure Flack knows" Lindsay smiled "Those two gossip worse than a bunch of girls"

Stella laughed "nothings changed then"

"No" Lindsay replied, suddenly her phone went off, pulling It from her pocket she saw it was Mac "I've gotta take this" She told Stella.

"It's okay, I'll go and see what Lucy is up to" Stella smiled getting up and making her way into Lucy's pink princess room where she found the little girl sat on the floor dressing her doll.

"That dress is pretty" Stella said sitting down on the floor.

"Yeah, but it just won't go on" Lucy replied placing the dolls head on the floor and trying to tug the dress on "It's stuck"

"Come here, let me try" Stella took the doll from her and gently pulled the dress until it went on, she then turned the doll over and did up the two buttons on the back of the dress.

Lucy looked at her in amazement "You're so clever"

"It was nothing" Stella smiled handing the doll back.

Lucy wrapped the doll in a blanket then held her in her arms like a mother would a child and began feeding her from a plastic bottle "She is hungry today"

"I can see"

"You want to feed her some?" Lucy asked

"Okay" Stella took the doll and copying what Lucy had done she began to feed the baby. She looked up when she heard a cry coming from the other room. "Luce, stay here" she said passing the baby back, getting up, she made her way to where Lindsay was in the spare room. She found her sat on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest staring into space and the phone laid next to her. "Lindsay?" she sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around Lindsay shoulders.

Lindsay jumped when she felt Stella's touch "I need to go" She announced getting to her feet. "stay here and watch Lucy"

"Where are you going?" Stella asked confused

"To the hospital" Lindsay replied with tears rolling down her cheeks

"Why? What's happened?"

"Danny's been shot"


	7. Chapter 7

**okay first off I thought I left you on a bit of a cliffhanger so thought I'd update today :) I also want to apologise if any of the medical jargon/facts are wrong I don't know much about it but I've tried to do the best I can with the help of my dear friend Google :) hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think :)**

Mac sat in the back of the ambulance holding on to Danny's hand, he was unconscious due to the amount of blood that he lost from his stomach where he was shot. "Come on Danny, you need to pull through this, think of those two beautiful girls you have back home" he gave Danny's hand a squeeze hoping he might get one back in return but nothing. "I've called Lindsay, she's on her way to the hospital" Mac pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand, not knowing what else to say to the younger man who he thought of as a son.

The ambulance soon arrived at Queen of Mercy, the paramedics unloaded Danny from the back of the ambulance pushing him through the doors of the hospital. Mac kept hold of Danny's hand until he was told he was allowed no further. "Where's he going?" Mac asked the doctor who had stopped him.

"They are taking him straight down to prep for surgery to remove the bullet" The doctor replied picking up a clipboard

"How long will that take? His wife is arriving soon I need to tell her what's happening"

"It's okay sir, we will be able to sit down with Mrs Messer and explain what is going on but I should think as long as there are no complications the surgery should only take a couple of hours"

"Okay" Mac sighed rubbing his hands over his face.

"I need to go but if you could fill this information in about Mr Messer and then hand it to reception that would be very helpful" The doctor handed Mac the clipboard and then made his way though the door Danny had just gone down.

Mac sat on one of the nearby chairs looking at the forum, he started to fill bits in like name, date of birth, address. He heard someone running, he looked up to see Lindsay running towards him, placing the clipboard on the chair next to him he stood opening his arms for her to run into, he cuddled her tightly, holding her head to his chest.

"Where is he?" Lindsay asked through her tears.

"He is in surgery Lindsay, they are removing the bullet" Mac replied gently sitting down with her.

"What happened?" She asked

"We aren't exactly sure yet, we have some CSI's from New Jersey down there going over the scene"

"Is everyone else okay?"

"I don't know, Danny was the first one they got out and I went in the ambulance with him"

"Thank you for going with him"

"It's not a problem, he would of done it for me" Mac replied "Where's Lucy?"

"She's at home with Stella"

"Stella?" Mac asked surprised

"Yeah, Danny organised for her to come and visit me as a surprise, she arrived this afternoon" Lindsay sat up "I should probably phone her, let her know what's going on I kinda left in a hurry"

"Okay, I'll still be here" Mac replied.

"Thank you Mac, I'll be back in a second" she got up and made her way outside to make her call to Stella.

Mac picked up the clipboard again, he began to fill in the rest. There were a few bits he needed Lindsay to fill out and she also needed to sign it as next of kin.

Jo spotted Mac in the corridor and came over, sitting in the seat next to him "Oh Mac, this day hasn't turned out very good has it" she sighed

"No, it hasn't, How are the other two? Do you know?"

"I don't know about Hawkes, he was still in the factory when I left with Flack. But Flack is doing okay, just a lot of bruises and a small wound on his arms which has been stitched up. He has finally woken up but they want to keep him overnight for observation which he isn't too pleased about" she took hold of Mac's hand and looked him in the eyes "How's Danny?"

"Not to great Jo" he sighed "He is in surgery now having the bullet removed"

"He'll get through this Mac, he is a fighter" she smiled giving his hand a squeeze "Is Lindsay here yet?"

"Yeah, she's just gone outside to make a call, she will be back soon"

"How is she doing?"

"As well as can be expected"

"I need to go back to Flack, I told him I was only popping out for some water, but you tell Lindsay if she needs anything and I mean anything then she knows where to find me" she gave Mac's hand one last squeeze and then left heading back to Flack's room.

Five minutes after Jo left Lindsay came back and sat next to Mac resting her head on his shoulder "How is Stella?" Mac asked

"She's good, this is all a bit of a shock to her, but she has fed Lucy for me and is now getting her ready for bed"

"Does Lucy know?"

Lindsay shook her head "I'll tell her when I know what's happening with Danny, I don't want to tell her Daddy will be fine and find out he's..." Lindsay couldn't bring herself to finish the end of that sentence.

"That's understandable Lindsay" Mac replied "Oh Jo's been down here, She came to let me know that Flack is doing fine lots of bruises and a small wound but he should be out of hospital by tomorrow"

"That's good" Lindsay replied

"She also said if you need anything, you know where she is. You know that applies to us all though, don't you? we will all be here for you Lindsay"

"I know Mac and thank you it means a lot"

"It's not a problem" Mac told her then he passed her the clipboard "There are a few things I couldn't fill in on here"

She sat up taking the clipboard off him and began to fill in the blanks after she had signed it Mac took it to the reception desk. They then sat in silence for a while both unsure what to say.

Another doctor made his way down the corridor and stopped in front of them "Mrs Messer?" he asked

"Yeah that's me" Lindsay replied.

"Would you just like to come with me for a second"

"Oh god, is Danny okay? He is still alive isn't he?" She panicked, the tears falling down her cheeks again.

"Mrs Messer, please if you would just come with me" The doctor said again.

"Okay, but Mac is coming too"

"That's fine" The doctor replied leading them both to his office along the corridor, he sat behind his desk while Mac and Lindsay sat in the two seats on the other side. "Right, so Mr Messer is.."

"Danny" Lindsay interrupted "his name is Danny"

"Sorry Danny, They've managed to get the bullet out of him and it didn't hit any major organs and they are just stitching him up as we speak"

"So he will be okay? When can I see him?"

"Soon but you should know while he was on the table Danny went into cardiac arrest due to the blood loss, we were able to revive him, but it seems like he has fallen into a coma so his body can deal with the shock it's had"


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is chapter 8, I hope you don't all hate me after this chapter! Thank you for all your lovely reviews I love reading them :) Let me know what you think of this chapter :)**

Mac sat on a chair outside Danny's hospital room letting Lindsay have some time alone with her husband. The doctor told them he believed that Danny had a good chance of making a full recovery he just needed time to let his body rest and get over the trauma it had been through in the past eight hours. Mac checked his watch it was 2:30am he was tired but he imagined that's how everyone felt, Jo had gone back down to the crime scene after Flack had fallen asleep and was helping Adam and the New Jersey CSI's to process, Hawkes had gone to the station to give his statement and From what he had heard from Lindsay Stella was still awake unable to sleep with worry.

Mac stood up intending to get himself a coffee in the hopes it would help him to stay awake, he pushed open Danny's door gently to let Lindsay know where he was going as he entered he spotted her lent over in the chair with her hand holding Danny's and her head resting on his arm fast asleep. Mac smiled at the sight, he didn't have the heart to wake Lindsay up so he just left them both asleep and made his way to the hot drinks machine. Putting his money in the machine he pressed the buttons for a black coffee with two sugars. While he was waiting his phone began to ring, pulling it out his pocket he answered "Taylor"

"Hey Mac it's Lovato, we've got a confession"

"You do?" Mac asked surprised that Edward have given himself up so easily. "I guess Edward had no choice but to confess"

"It wasn't Edward that confessed"

"What? Who then?"

"Hawkes has confessed to shooting Danny, he claims it was an accident but admits to doing it"

Mac was taken back by what Lovato had just revealed to him "Tell him not to speak to anyone till I get there okay? I'm leaving the hospital now"

"Okay, How's Flack?" Jamie asked.

"He is doing good from what I've heard he should be out of here in the morning"

"That's good to know" Jamie replied

Mac said his goodbyes and ended the call. He then sighed and ran his hand through his hair, grabbing his coffee that was now done he made his way to the hospital exit and managed to haul a cab to take him to the prescient.

Once he arrived he made his way straight to the interrogation room where Hawkes was sat in a blood stained shirt "What on earth happened in there?" he asked

"Mac it was an accident, I was trying to defend myself, I didn't know Danny would be there the last I knew he was locked in some room with Flack" Hawkes replied

"Why did you even have a gun anyway? You know your not allowed to carry them" Mac asked sitting down at the table

"I wasn't carrying, I know the rules. It was Edward's gun, he held it up to me and I managed to wrestle it off of him"

"Then what happened?"

"I went to shoot him, I remember holding the gun up to him and then next thing I remember the gun had gone off and Danny was laying on the floor and I tried to help stop the bleeding but there was just to much. Is he okay?"

"He is in a coma at the moment" Mac replied

"Oh god, what have I done? He wasn't even meant to be in there" Hawkes covered his face with his hands and began to cry.

"Look, I know you Hawkes and I want to believe what your telling me but you know as well as I do we need some evidence to back up your story"

Hawkes pulled his hands away from his face and looked at Mac "I'm not lying"

"I'm not saying you are I just need to see some evidence that backs up your story Jo and Adam are out collecting it as we speak. I'll also need to speak to Edward to get his side of the story and when and if Danny wakes up I'll need to hear it from him too"

Hawkes nodded knowing Mac was just doing his job.

"I shouldn't think you should be held for this Hawkes" Mac added trying to reassure his friend.

There was a knock at the door, Mac got up and opened it going out to speak to the officer on the other side. A few seconds later they both entered "Hawkes, you know Detective Small, he is here to process you"

Hawkes nodded, standing up and began to unbutton his shirt.

Mac took one last look at his CSI then left walking down the corridor to a second interrogation room where Edward was sat holding an ice pack to his head.

"What happened to your head?" Mac asked sitting down at the table

"One of your stupid men jumped on me, ended up smacking my head didn't I?"

"I don't know, did you?" Mac replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"You know I did" Edward took the ice pack off his head to revel the bump that was starting to form.

"What happened before you were jumped on?"

"The other guy, the black one he just went crazy pulled a gun out on me"

"That's funny because Hawkes doesn't carry a gun"

"Well he was today, I saw it. He pulled it out from his side told me to let him and his friends go or he was gonna kill me"

"So what happened after you fell to the ground?"

"I don't know, it all went black after that, I just remember waking up and the paramedics were stood over me and there was blood everywhere, the black guy, Hawkes was that his name?" Mac nodded "Yea him, he was covered in blood"

"Okay" Mac replied, knowing he couldn't ask a lot more as he wasn't taking an official statement. He made an excuse and left the room, deciding to head back to the hospital to check on Danny, Flack and Lindsay.

Lindsay woke up, looking around she realised it wasn't a dream Danny was actually lying in a hospital bed after being shot. She ran her fingers through his hair, he looked so peaceful, she could see Lucy in him as he laid there asleep. Leaning forward she planted a kiss on his cheek, not being able to kiss his lips due to the breathing tube that was there. She took his hand in both of hers and kissed his knuckles then held his hand against her cheek "Danny, babe can you hear me? I hope you can because I need you to know that I love you, I love you with all my heart and you can't go leaving me, I need you right now more than I've ever needed you before. I never got to tell you Danny but I'm pregnant" The tears began to fall down Lindsay's cheeks again landing on Danny's hand "you're going to be a Daddy again. We are going to have two mini Messers running around the place. I can't raise them by myself. Lucy needs you, You should of seen her little face today when she realised you weren't there to pick her up from school and this new baby they need to know who their Daddy is, they need to see how brave, amazing, caring and wonderful you are. Please Danny, don't leave me alone"


	9. Chapter 9

**thank you all for your reviews for the last chapter, I'm glad you all liked the twist with Hawkes (Originally he was meant to die, so this was the better option!) I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)**

Flack opened his eyes, he went to lift his right hand to rub the sleepy dust from out of them but found he couldn't move it, looking down he saw his arm was in a sling. Memories from the night before came rushing back to him; chasing a suspect, being shot, fists coming towards him. He tried to sit up but shooting pains ran through his chest, he let out a grumble. "Your finally awake" He heard a voice say, turning his head he saw Mac sat on a chair.

"Yeah, how long was I out for?" Flack asked trying for a second time to sit up and still not having much success.

"Well you woke up last night for around an hour or so Jo was here with you but then you've been asleep since then so I reckon" Mac took a look at his watch "Around 8 hours" he then came over and helped Flack to sit up, positioning his pillows behind him so he was comfortable.

"How are the other two? Jo said Danny was hurt but wouldn't tell me much more"

"Danny was shot Don, He's in a coma" Mac said sadly sitting back down on the chair.

"What? I need to see him" Flack tried swinging his legs out of the bed but the pains from the bruises stopped him.

"He is fine, Lindsay and Adam are with him at the moment" Mac replied coming back over to the bed and helping Flack get comfortable again.

"Oh god Linds, How's she doing?"

"She's holding it together"

"I need to be with her, I need to make sure they're both okay"

"Flack you are in no state to go anywhere right now" Mac told him sternly.

"Mac, just get me a wheelchair or something please?"

"Don you are going to be released In a few hours once the doctor has done his rounds, I'll take you to see Danny then"

Flack gave up trying, he knew he wasn't going to win again Mac "Okay, but you better, Danny is my best friend Mac I need to make sure he is alright, What actually happened?"

"We are still trying to work that out at the moment"

Flack sighed "I told him, I told him to stay in the car, he didn't have his vest. Why didn't he listen?"

"Because it's Danny and he heard the radio call that you were injured, He came to help you, then Edward held you all hostage"

"Is Hawkes okay?"

"Yeah, Hawkes is okay" Mac replied quickly then changed the subject "How's the arm feeling?"

"My arms fine, What's going on? What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing I'm not hiding anything"

"You are, I can tell, Is it Hawkes? He's not dead is he?"

"No, no he's not dead, he's just..." Mac couldn't find the words to finish the sentence

"He's just what?" Flack asked getting annoyed.

"He's admitted to being the one to shoot Danny" Mac replied sitting back in the chair and looking at the floor "Apparently he was trying to shoot Edward but Danny got in the way"

"What? No... No, I told him when we went in that there was to be no heroics he was there to back me up" Flack ran his hand through his hair "How did he even get a gun in the first place?"

"He managed to get it off Edward"

"Great so now because he tried to play the hero my best mate is lying in a coma" Flack snapped.

Mac just nodded not knowing what else to say.

Lindsay sat on the chair in Danny's room, her hand still holding his, she gently rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. Adam had popped down to the cafe to get himself a sandwich. Lindsay had managed to phone Sophie, Lucy's babysitter and she was popping round to watch Lucy while Stella came to the hospital to bring Lindsay some clean clothes and to come and sit with her. There was a knock on the door. "Come in" Lindsay called.

"Hello Mrs Messer, I've just come to drop off some of your husband's personal belongings" The young nurse smiled handing Lindsay a clear plastic bag that had Danny's wallet, dog tags, shield and wedding ring in "His clothes have been picked up by your colleague as they are now evidence"

"Thank you" Lindsay replied looking down at the bag in her hand.

The nurse checked Danny's monitor making sure everything was normal and then left the room closing the door behind her.

Lindsay opened the plastic bag she first took out Danny's wallet, she sniffed it, it smelt like her Danny which made her smile. She opened it up looking at the picture of Lucy that sat inside, she knew how much he loved that picture of their daughter. She closed the wallet back up and slipped it into her handbag. Then she took out his shield; she ran her fingers over it smiling at the memory of when he played the lab prank on her and how she had checked his shield for the blue dye. She placed his shield into her handbag as well.

Next she took out his Grandfather's dog tags, She had never known him without these on, she read what was on each tag, not that she needed to read it to know. She pulled his wedding ring out, holding it between her thumb and forefinger she gave it a kiss and then slipped it on to the necklace with the dog tags, then placed the necklace around her neck. She took hold of Danny's hand again"These will stay here safe, by my heart Danny until you wake up and are able to wear them again"

The door opened again and Adam came in with a cheese sandwich in his hand and another sandwich in his other hand "I got you a chicken salad one, I hope that alright" he said as he passed Lindsay the sandwich

Lindsay smiled gratefully and took the sandwich "Thank you, but I'm not really hungry" she placed it on the cupboard next to her.

"You need to eat Lindsay, what good are you going to be to Danny when he wakes up if you've not eaten" Adam said as he sat in the seat on the other side of the bed.

"I will eat it, I just can't right now" she told him, sliding her fingers between Danny's and squeezing his hand.

"You think he can hear us?" Adam asked

Lindsay nodded "I'm sure he can, I bet his been laughing in his head at us all crying over him"

Adam looked at Danny lying on the bed "Danny it's me Adam" he said nervously, he looked up at Lindsay and started blushing.

"It's okay Adam, Carry on. I bet he is getting fed up of my voice anyway"

"He would never" Adam told her and then turned back to Danny "You've gotta wake up soon Danny, You've only been out of it less than 24 hours but I'm already missing you. You are so brave going through the whole hostage thing again, I mean the first time was rough and you were brave then getting that beating just to distract them and now you've done it again and this time you saved people, you saved Flack, he is doing okay by the way, pretty bruised up and a few stitches on his arm but nothing that won't heal, You did good Danny and should be..."

Adam was interrupted by the door opening again, this time Stella came in with Lindsay's green duffel bag on her arm. "I hope I'm not intruding" Stella smiled placing the bag on the floor by the end of the bed.

"Not at all" Lindsay smiled getting up and giving Stella a hug "We were both just talking to Danny"

"Has he shown any signs that he can hear you?" Stella asked.

Lindsay shook her head sadly as she sat back in the chair "Not yet"

Stella placed her hand reassuringly on Lindsay's shoulder, she knew she had to stay positive for Lindsay but she also knew the longer Danny lay there unconscious the smaller his chances were of making a full recovery.


	10. Chapter 10

**All of your reviews are making me smile so much, I'm really glad you are all liking this story, This chapter has been one of my favourite to write so I hope you all enjoy it too :)**

Hawkes paced up and down his apartment, he wanted to go the hospital but the detective who processed him had told him it probably wasn't the best idea. Someone was heading down there soon to speak to Lindsay and they warned him it probably wasn't wise for him to be there. He still couldn't get his head around what had happened yesterday, Edward had threatened him and held the gun up to his face, he had to disarm him, so using some techniques he had been taught by Danny and Flack he was able to get the gun away. He then held the gun to Edward and pulled the trigger, the next thing he knew Danny was on the floor bleeding. He couldn't remember much that happened after that, only that he had tried to stop the bleeding with his bullet proof vest but there had just been too much off it.

He looked down at his hands, he had scrubbed them numerous times since being processed but it didn't matter, in his mind they were still covered in dark, crimson red blood, his friend's blood, Danny's blood. It made him feel sick to his stomach knowing that is was there on his hands and it had been his fault. He made his way back to the bathroom, turning on the tap he let it run waiting for it to warm up, He looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes were blood shot from all the tears he had cried and also due to the lack of sleep. He couldn't sleep, he had tried when he got back from the precinct but every time he closed his eyes images of Danny laid there helplessly on the floor bleeding filled his head. He put his hands under the water that was now running scalding hot, not that he could feel the heat, his hands were numb from the amount of hot water they had experienced today. He reached up and squirted some soap into his hands, holding one hand under the running water he used his nail brush to begin scrubbing, he scrubbed till it hurt and then some more, the pain was good, he needed to feel the pain maybe then he wouldn't feel so bad for hurting Danny if he hurt himself.

He carried on scrubbing his hands raw and didn't stop till he heard his doorbell sound, he looked up towards the door but decided to ignore it, whoever was on the other side though didn't want to be ignored they kept ringing, finally Hawkes dropped the nail brush in the sink and dried his hands on the towel that was hanging up and made his way to the door. He opened it revealing Sid on the other side looking sheepish "Hey Sheldon, I've just heard what happened. I wanted to make sure you were okay?"

Hawkes opened the door some more to let Sid in "I'm not great Sid" he replied going over to the couch "I just shot my friend"

"I know but it was just a terrible accident" Sid said sitting down on the couch next to Hawkes.

"They have to prove that first though, at the moment all they have is my word"

"And why wouldn't they believe that? Surely they know you wouldn't shoot Danny intentionally"

"Mac wants to see the evidence, as he always says 'the evidence doesn't lie but people do' he needs to be certain I guess"

"Well if it's any consultation I believe you, I know full well you would never of shot Danny on purpose"

"Thanks Sid, that means a lot" Hawkes replied. "Have you heard anything from the hospital?"

"No I'm afraid I haven't" Sid replied scratching his head "but I'm planning to phone Jo later so I shall enquire then"

Mac pushed Flack's wheelchair down the hospital corridor, Flack was now dressed in some of his normal clothes which Sam had brought over for him on her way to work, She had promised she would drop by his place later that night to see him.

"Flack remember Lindsay doesn't know about Hawkes yet, someone is on their way to speak to her now"

"I know Mac I won't mention it, Although I would like to be there when she is told"

"I'm sure she will need a friend so that's fine" Mac replied as they approached Danny's room "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be" Flack replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

Mac opened the door and pushed Flack in, Flack gasped when he saw Danny laid on the hospital bed, pale as the white sheets he was laid on, a drip was hanging above him attached to his arm, there was a breathing tube in his mouth, numerous sticky pads with wires coming out of them over his bare chest he had a cannula in his hand, a pulse oximeter on his finger and on his left side of his lower stomach there was a white gauze with small blotches of red on. Flack then noticed Lindsay curled up on the chair,she held Danny's hand in one hand and was fiddling with his dog tags that sat around her neck with the other. "Hey Lindsay" he said softly not wanting to scare her.

Lindsay looked up, noticing Flack and Mac "Oh hey" she gave them a small smile "How are you?"

"I'm good" Flack lied, he couldn't tell her how much pain he was really in as it was nothing compared to what her husband was going through.

"I'm pleased" she said looking back down at the dog tags in her hand.

Mac knew Flack needed to be closer to Lindsay so he slowly pushed him over "I'm just going to phone Stella, see if she dropped Adam off back at the lab okay" Mac said making an excuse to leave the two friends alone.

Once Mac had left Flack rested his hand on Lindsay's knee "You know him Linds, he is as stubborn as a mule he won't go down without a fight"

Letting go of the dog tags Lindsay took hold of Flack's hand that was on her knee and looked up into his eyes "What if he can't fight?"

"Of course he can fight, he proved that the last time he got shot. He would never leave you and Lucy alone, you two mean far too much to him"

"Flack, I'm scared... I'm really scared" more tears began to roll down Lindsay's cheeks " Last time he got shot, he couldn't walk but he was still here with me, communicating with me but now..." She sniffed wiping her eyes "I can't do this without him, haven't I lost enough people in my life already? My friends, Kelly, Lucy and Caroline, my Mum and now I could lose my husband, what did I do to deserve all this?"

Flack took his hand out of Lindsay's and used his thumb to wipe her tears away "You didn't do anything Lindsay, your friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, your mum was ill Linds, you were expecting her to go and I bet all four of them are watching down on you and are so proud of the wonderful wife and mother you've become" he took hold of her hand again "and as for Danno here, he isn't going anywhere and if he does and Linds that's a massive if then I'll be here for you, I promised Danny if anything happened to him I would look after you and Lucy and I won't break that promise, I'll be here for the both of you for whatever you need"

Lindsay leant forward and wrapped her arms around Flack's neck, being careful of his arm and bruises"Thank you, that means a lot to me"

"Linds you're Danny's girl and as his best mate one of my responsibilities is to take care of you when he can't"

"You are a good man Don Flack" Lindsay told him planting a kiss on his cheek.

"It's nothing Linds, I know Danny would do the same for me"

There were disturbed by a knock on the door "Come in" Lindsay called sitting back up straight in the chair and taking hold of Danny's hand.

Detective Small poked his head around the door "Is this a good time?"

Lindsay nodded taking hold of Flack's hand "Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah, That's what I've come to talk to you about, would you mind coming to talk to me in the office down the corridor"

"I don't mind Flack being here" she told him

"It's not that, I just don't think Danny should be hearing this" he replied.

Lindsay looked at Danny still asleep on the bed and nodded, standing up she followed Detective Small

"Want me to come with you?" Flack asked as she got to the door

"No, I'll be okay, I need you to stay with Danny, I don't want him to be alone" she gave one last look at Danny and then made her way to the office with the Detective.


	11. Chapter 11

**Not a lot happens in this chapter, it's just a bit of a filler but I hope you all still enjoy it anyway :)**

Lindsay slowly made her way back down the hospital corridor. She was trying to take in what Detective Small had just told her but her brain was finding it very hard to accept, Hawkes had shot Danny, Sheldon Hawkes their friend. Small had told her it was an accident, but to her accident or not he had still shot her husband who was now laid in a hospital bed in a coma. She made her way to Danny's room door, she was just about to enter when she heard Flack talking from the other side.

"Danno come on, how long are you gonna lay there for, listening to me going on? I'm waiting for you to open them eyes and tell me to shut the hell up. I'm gonna go and phone Hawkes when Linds gets back, see what on earth he was doing even thinking of using that gun, There was other ways he could of got out of there, he could of I dunno knocked him out or..."

Lindsay barged in "You knew?"

Flack looked up at her with a confused expression "Hm?"

"You knew Hawkes shot Danny and you didn't think to tell me?"

"Lindsay it wasn't my place to tell you"

"Flack, less than twenty minutes ago you were telling me you wanted to be here for me and Lucy and yet you couldn't tell me that little bit of information"

Carefully Flack stood up, shuffling over he pulled Lindsay into a one armed cuddle "Lindsay, I wanted to tell you, I really did"

Lindsay sniffed "Why didn't you then?"

"Because I thought it was best you heard it from someone impartial, someone who doesn't know Danny or Hawkes"

"I would of preferred to hear it from you, Flack" Lindsay replied pulling back and sitting in the chair next to Danny's bed.

"I know you would have, I would of preferred for you to hear it from me but it just wasn't how it should be Linds, you know as well as I do how the whole NYPD works, someone uninvolved has to break the bad news" Flack sat back in his chair "It's because if you get angry at the bad news you can hit them and not someone you care about" he laughed

Lindsay looked up to him, with a small smile on her face, then turned looking at the door seeing Stella and Jo come in.

"Come on Lindsay, your coming with me" Jo said coming over to take Lindsay's hand.

"Go where? I'm not going anywhere" Lindsay replied stubbornly

"Oh yes you are, because there is a beautiful little girl missing her Mama, so you are coming with me, you're going to have a shower, something to eat, spend a little time with Lucy and then have a sleep" Jo told her.

"No, I'm staying here with Danny" Lindsay replied, sitting back in the chair and crossing her arms,

"That's why I'm here Lindsay, I'm going to sit with Danny while you have a few hours break" Stella smiled "Now budge out that chair so I can sit down"

"What if he wakes up and I'm not here?" Lindsay asked

"If he wakes, I will ring you and Jo will bring you straight back down" Stella replied.

Lindsay sighed, looking over at Danny she took his hand again "Hey baby, I'm going to go home for a little bit okay? Spend a little time with Lucy and have a shower but I'll be back in a couple of hours I promise. Stella will be here while I'm gone" She leant down and kissed his forehead "I love you Danny" standing up she turned to Stella "I'll be two hours tops"

"I'm happy to stay here for as long as you need me to"

"No, I will be back in a couple of hours, Sophie won't mind watching Lucy for me or if she can't I'm sure are neighbour can" Lindsay walked over to the door.

"Jo is it alright if I got a lift?" Flack asked

Jo went behind Flack's wheelchair and began to push him "Of course it is"

"See you later Stel" Flack smiled giving Stella a wave.

"See the three of you later" Stella replied sitting in the seat that Lindsay had just vacated.

Lindsay turned the key in the door and pushed it open "Mummy!" Lucy squealed running out of the sitting room.

"Hey Luce, I've missed you" Lindsay smiled bending down to pick her three year old up.

"I've missed you too and Daddy, Where is Daddy?"

Sophie popped her head out of the sitting room "Oh Hey Mrs Messer"

"Sophie how many times must I ask you to call me Lindsay?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting" Sophie smiled

"It's okay, look I don't mean to be a pain, I'm sure Stella filled you in on what's happened right?"

Sophie nodded watching as Lindsay placed Lucy on the floor, the little girl then ran off back into the sitting room "I haven't mentioned it to her"

"Thank you, I'm going to have a talk with her in a minute, I don't suppose you mind staying over tonight and watching her so I can head back to the hospital?"

"Of course not Mrs Mes... I mean Lindsay, anything I can do to help you"

"Thank you, I really appreciate it, I'm going to be here for a couple of hours spend some time with Lucy, have a shower and some food so if you want to pop home and get your over night bag you can do"

"Okay, I'll go and do that now" Sophie reached up for her coat off the hook "Tell Lucy I'll see her soon"

"I will do and again thank you so much for this Sophie" Lindsay opened the front door.

"It's really no problem, I love looking after Lucy and I know what a difficult time this must be for you right now"

Lindsay smiled "I'll see you soon"

"Yeah, bye for now" Sophie replied heading out the door.

Lindsay closed the door behind her, taking off her coat she headed into the sitting room where Lucy was sat on her pink bean bag watching Aladdin; She looked up when she heard Lindsay enter "Look Mummy, I'm watching Daddy's favourite Disney film"

"You are" Lindsay smiled, Danny always said this was his favourite Disney film as he always thought of himself a bit like Aladdin a street merchant who managed to meet his beautiful princess and fall in love. He would always sing along to a 'Whole New World' when it came on which made Lucy laugh.

"Is Daddy at work?" Lucy asked

"No Luce" Lindsay went and sat on the couch, switching the film off with the remote.

"I was watching that" Lucy pouted

"I know, but I need to talk to you, come over here"

Lucy got up and made her way over to Lindsay who picked her up and sat her on her lap "Lucy, you know what a hospital is don't you?"

Lucy nodded "You went to Hop-e-cal when you got that boo boo on your head"

"I did, clever girl" Lindsay smiled planting a kiss on the top of Lucy's head. "Luce that's where Daddy is right now, he's in hospital"

"Daddy got a boo boo?"

"Daddy has a big boo boo, so like Snow White he has gone into a special sleep"

"If I kiss his boo boo will he wake up? Snow White did when the prince kissed her"

"No sweetie, it doesn't quite work like that, Daddy will wake up when he is ready too" Lindsay could feel the tears filling her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall in front of Lucy, It wouldn't help her to see her Mother upset.

"Can I go see him?"

"Not yet, Sophie is coming back to stay with you tonight, you can have a girly sleepover and then maybe tomorrow I will ask the doctor and see if you are okay to visit"

"Oh okay" Lucy sighed

"You'll have fun with Sophie, I might even get my nail varnishes out so she can paint your nails" Lindsay didn't really like Lucy wearing nail varnish but she thought considering everything that was going on she would let her for a treat this once.

"Really? Can I have pink nails?"

"You can have whatever colour you like" Lindsay smiled, pulling Lucy in tightly for a cuddle "Lucy I love you with all my heart, you know that right?"

Lucy nodded against Lindsay's chest "I love you too Mummy lots and lots"

Lindsay kissed the top of Lucy's head again and breathed in her scent "Lucy I need to get quick shower but once I'm out we will finish watching Aladdin together okay?"

"Okay, I going to draw Daddy a picture to make him better soon"

"He will like that, I'll take it with me and stick it up above his bed" Lindsay smiled.

"Okay, I gonna draw me you and Daddy eating pizza, Daddy likes pizza" Lucy said as she slid off Lindsay's lap.

"Daddy loves pizza" Lindsay replied watching Lucy go off to find her crayons "I'm just going to get my shower Luce" She told her then made her way upstairs to the bathroom.


	12. Chapter 12

**So here is chapter 12 :) Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)**

Jo arrived back at the crime lab after dropping Lindsay and Flack off. Coming out of the elevator she made her way to the trace lab where Adam was looking over a few guns "Adam, please tell me you have something?"

"Actually I do, well I think I do. Anyway these three guns were recovered from the scene, one was Danny's one was Flack's and the other Edward's" He held up each gun as he said who's it was. "The only two guns to be fired were Flack's and Edward's"

"So this tells us that Edward is lying, Hawkes didn't bring a gun to the scene"

"Yeah which is what we thought anyway, I mean I guess there could be another gun at the scene that hasn't been found but I doubt it"

"So do we know which gun shot Danny?" Jo asked

"The bullet retrieved from Danny matches the bullets that were in Edward's gun"

"So we can assume that Hawkes did wrestle with Edward and take his gun off of him"

Adam nodded "That's what it looks like"

Stella sat in the chair next to Danny's bed, she had been speaking to him telling her little stories from her time in New Orleans "and then the suspect held Amy up against the wall, As you can imagine Amy wasn't happy with that, she's a tough little cookie, kinda reminds me of Lindsay actually, well anyway she then kneed him his man parts. You should of seen the look on his face when he realised what she had done, he bent in two holding himself and we were then able to put the handcuffs on and arrest him, he ended up getting 8 years inside"

She rested her hands on top of Danny's "What other funny stories have I got to tell you? Oh, we arrested this guy a few months back, he went on a rampage with a gun, killed four people and injured lots more, I know what your thinking, Stella how is that funny? But no that's not the funny bit, his name was the funniest bit, he was in one of them gangs where they all get stupid nicknames, he was 'Porky' or 'Porks' for short, apparently he liked his bacon" she let out a little laugh "Can you imagine being called Porks by your friends? I guess we need to find humour where we can in our job"

She heard her phone beep, she pulled it out looking at the text she just received and then turned back to Danny "That was Lindsay, her and Luce are watching Aladdin, Sophie is going round to watch Lucy tonight so Lindsay can be back here with you, I think I might stay with her if that's okay with you?" Stella sighed "Like you are going to answer. Danny I promise you I will stay here for along as you need me to okay, I phoned my boss last night and explained the situation and she has given me a month off work, more if I need it. I'm turning into Mac I think, I don't take any time off so I've built a lot of holiday up. I'm going to be here for you Lindsay and Lucy though

You are like a little brother to me Danny, it's weird when we first met I wasn't sure I was going to get along with you, you didn't seem to like the rules and that annoyed me a little bit as a cop, we need to play by the rules, its part of the job. You grew on me though with your charm and that winning personality you have. I was so glad for you when Lindsay came along, I knew straight away you two would get together. You balanced each other out perfectly, you helped to bring her out of her shell, you got her through the trial of her friends death, your are definitely her rock and she's brought out the family man in you, your romantic caring side, the side none of us thought we would ever see. I mean she even made you a cuddler; I heard it from your daughter last night in fact that you apparently give the best cuddles in the whole wide world.

She's turning into a right little lady isn't she? She's grown so much since I last saw her and her hair is getting so long, she had me putting it in plaits last night, was showing me her princess bedroom too, she's very proud of that, told me you, Flack and Mac did it together last year for her birthday. It's the perfect room for any little girl. I'm so proud of how well you adjusted to having a daughter, I know you had your heart set on a son, I remember that day when we had to go through all the boys names, that was a long day" She smiled at the memory "then Linds told you it was a girl and you have been the perfect Daddy to her since"

Stella looked up when she heard the door open, Mac came in carrying to cups of coffee "thought someone would be here" he smiled "so I brought an extra cup" he passed the styrofoam cup to Stella.

"Thank you, just what I need" she replied taking a sip of the hot liquid "That's good"

Mac sat on the chair on the other side of Danny's bed "Lindsay go home?"

"Yeah, Jo came and took her home an hour or so ago, she's spending a little time with Lucy then is planning to come back" she replied holding the hot cup between her hands.

"I can't believe this is the second time she's had to go through this, sitting by his side while he recovers from a gun shot wound"

"Well at least the first time he was able to respond to her, kiss her, tell her it would be alright. I imagine it is a lot harder this time"

"I know what you mean" Mac replied "But Danny is strong, he won't leave her alone"

Stella placed her cup on the side and held Danny's hand "You hear that Danny? We all believe in you, so you just need to open them eyes now, show us all how strong you are"

Danny made a mumbling sound, Stella looked at him and then at Mac "Has he done that before?"

Mac stood up "no, no he hasn't" he leant over Danny, touching his shoulder "Danny can you hear me?" there was no reply "Danny, just mumble or something if you can hear me?" Mac placed his hand in Danny's "or squeeze my hand" he kept his hand there for a few minutes but there was nothing. Mac sighed sitting back down.

"I guess though that the first mumble is a good sign" Stella said

"Yeah, I think it is" he smiled "hopefully it won't be long now till he is awake" he stood up "I'll go let a doctor know that he is starting to make noises"

"Okay, I'll be here" Stella smiled watching him as he walked out the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**So here is another chapter :) I've got loads written so want to get them out! I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think as I love reading your reviews and I'm so thankful for every one!**

Hawkes sat in the front of Sid's car nervously twiddling his fingers "I'm not sure this is a good idea" he mumbled looking down at the floor.

"It will be fine, once you see him it will make you feel much better" Sid told him.

"But what do I say to Lindsay?"

"Nothing, she's not there. When I phoned Jo earlier she had just dropped Lindsay at home so she could spend some time with that darling little girl of hers"

"Oh okay" Hawkes replied, looking up and out of the window.

The rest of the car journey to the hospital passed quickly, neither man knew what to say to the other so it also passed silently.

Sid pulled up into a car parking space situated near the entrance of the hospital "Ready?"

"Not really" Hawkes sighed "I'm not sure I can go in"

"Sheldon, you need to do this, you need to face up to what you've done and see that even though Danny is in a coma he is still alive"

Hawkes nodded "I know, I know just give me a minute" he leant his head back on the head rest and rubbed his face "I can do this" he told himself.

Sid sat watching the younger man, he couldn't imagine what he was going through. He had never even fired a gun let alone shot someone. He knew though how much Hawkes was beating himself up over this that's why he had decided to bring him to the hospital In hopes it would help him.

"Okay" Hawkes said "I'm ready"

Together they made their way out of the car and over towards the entrance of the hospital "Jo said that Danny was on the sixth floor" Sid said as they entered the hospital.

"That would make sense, intensive care and high dependency are up there"

"Did you spend much time on those wards?" Sid asked as they approached the elevator.

"Not really, I mean I had to go up a few times and I knew a couple of people who worked up there but I didn't really spend a lot of time up there"

Sid nodded as they entered the elevator "Do you miss it?"

"Miss what?" Hawkes asked pressing the number six button

"Working here"

"No, I love my job now, it has its bad days but I prefer working with dead people than having people die on me"

Sid gave him an understanding nod, then the silence took over again until they reached the sixth floor, exiting the elevator they stopped a nurse who was walking past "Excuse me" Sid called

"Yes?" the nurse asked

"We are looking for a friend of ours is up here, I don't suppose you could help us?"

"Of course I can, what's the name?" She asked making her way back over to the desk that was at the entrance of the ward where the computer was.

"Daniel Messer"

She typed a few buttons on her computer then looked up at Sid and Hawkes "We have a Danny Messer"

"Yes, that's him"

"He is in room 202, would you like me to show you where it is?"

Sid looked over at Hawkes who was shaking his head and then turned back to the nurse "No, it's fine thank you, I'm sure we can find it"

"Okay, but if you do need help just ask someone will be able to direct you"

"Thank you" Sid smiled, then with Hawkes made his way down the corridor looking for room 202.

Lindsay woke up on Danny's side of the bed, looking over at the clock she saw the time was 6:04pm. She looked over at the other side of the bed, She had convinced Lucy to take a nap with her after watching Aladdin and that's where the three year old was now zonked out on her back with her arms above her head and one leg poking out the side of the duvet on Lindsay's side of the bed. Lindsay didn't normally like Lucy sleeping during the day but Stella had said that Lucy hadn't slept to well the night before, and she also hoped it would mean Lucy would be able to enjoy her girly sleepover with Sophie for a bit longer.

Getting up quietly as not to wake her daughter, Lindsay made her way to her wardrobe to pick out some clothes to wear to the hospital, she looked through and decided upon a pair of black leggings, a plain purple t-shirt, one of Danny's thick jumpers and her Ugg boots. She went into the bathroom and quickly got changed and brushed her hair, then went downstairs and made herself eat a slice of toast, she wasn't hungry but she knew that the baby growing in her stomach needed food.

She called the local pizza place and ordered pizza for Sophie and Lucy's girly sleepover, she placed the money for it on the sideboard and then made her way back upstairs to wake her sleeping daughter "Lucy" she said kneeling down on the floor next to the bed, she brushed Lucy's fringe out of her face "Lucy, baby it's time to wake up" she shook Lucy's shoulder gently.

"Humph" Lucy mumbled, rolling over on to her side.

Lindsay smiled at how much her daughter was like Danny when it came to being woken up "Lucy, Sophie is going to be round in a minute"

Lucy didn't reply so Lindsay stood up and picked the sleeping three year old up, her head flopped onto her Mother's shoulder "Open those pretty eyes Lucy-Girl"

Lucy rubbed her eye with her hand "No" she replied sleepily.

"Oh, I guess I'll have to put you in your bed then and tell Sophie you don't want your nails painted" Lindsay replied, watching as Lucy's eyes slowly opened.

"No Mummy, I do, I want my nails painted" She said letting out a little yawn.

Lindsay kissed Lucy's cheek and carried her down stairs where she placed her on the couch "Stay there I'm just going to phone Auntie Jo and see if she can give me a lift to the hospital"

"Okay" Lucy said, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Lindsay went into the kitchen and called Jo who said she would be happy to pick up the younger women in about 15 minutes, as soon as Lindsay put the phone down the front door knocked.

"Sophie" Lucy smiled from the couch but was too sleepy to get up to greet her babysitter at the door.

Lindsay made her way to the front door and let Sophie in, greeting her she took her bag from her and placed it on the bottom step "Lucy is in here" She smiled walking to the sitting room "She's just woken up from a nap so she's still a little sleepy"

"Okay" Sophie smiled "Is she okay? I didn't think she napped during the day any more?"

"Oh no she doesn't but she didn't sleep well last night and I thought if she slept then she could stay up a bit later with you, I've promised her that you would paint her nails for her, I hope that's okay?"

"That's fine" Sophie smiled, sitting next to Lucy on the couch and pulling her in for a cuddle. "We will have fun tonight won't we?"

Lucy nodded "Can we sleep in the living room like a proper sleepover?"

Lindsay laughed she didn't know where Lucy had got the idea from about a proper sleepover "If Sophie wants to then I don't have a problem with it"

"That's fine by me" Sophie replied

"You may just have to blow up the air mattresses, they're in the laundry cupboard upstairs with the sleeping bags and the air pump is out back in the shed"

"Okay, I'll do that a bit later" Sophie smiled.

"I've ordered some pizza for you both the money is on the side, I wasn't sure what you like so I ordered a small cheese and a small pepperoni, Lucy will eat both so you can have either or you can share"

"Thank you, I love both of them too" Sophie smiled then looked at Lucy "Shall we share?"

Lucy nodded excitedly.

Lindsay heard a horn sound outside "That'll be Jo, I better be off. Thank you so much for this Sophie"

"It's honestly no problem" Sophie replied.

Lindsay knelt down and pulled Lucy in for a cuddle "You be good for Sophie okay?"

Lucy nodded "I will Mummy" she cuddled Lindsay back tightly "Tell Daddy I love him"

Lindsay gave Lucy a kiss and stood up "I will" She grabbed the picture Lucy had drawn off the table then turned to Sophie "If there are any problems you have my number right?"

Sophie nodded.

"Okay, well I best be off, I love you Luce" She told her daughter leaning down to give her another kiss.

"I love you too Mummy" Lucy replied returning the kiss.

Lindsay said her goodbyes and headed out the door and into Jo's car "Sorry, was just making sure the sitter was okay with everything and had to say goodbye to Lucy"

"That's okay, I know what it's like leaving your child with a sitter, I used to hate having to Leave Ellie thankfully now she's all grown up and can take care of herself" She started the car up and headed towards the hospital "How is Lucy?"

"She's not too bad, took it a lot better than I expected. I tried to explain it to her with Disney characters so not sure how much she really understood but she wants to come and see him Jo"

"Then let her, he is her Daddy after all and little girls need there Daddies"

"I'm just worried the whole hospital and machines will end up scaring her"

"Children are a lot tougher than we give them credit for, I'm sure she will take it in her stride"

"I think your right, I guess I'll have to speak to Danny's doctor when we arrive make sure it's okay for her to visit tomorrow"

"That sounds a good idea and if you want after her visit she can come back home and have a sleepover with me and Ellie"

"Thank you, I'll see what Stella has planned as she might be able to stay with her but if not I might take you up on that offer"

"Well just let me know" Jo smiled at the younger women "I honestly am willing to do anything I can to help you"

"I know you are Jo and you don't know how much I appreciate it"

They soon arrived at the hospital "Want me to come up with you?" Jo asked

"Yeah that would be lovely, I'm sure Danny is loving having all these visitors"

"I'm sure he is, but then again I also think there is only one visitor he really wants"

Lindsay smiled knowing Jo was referring to her.

"You two are soul mates, he will be happy Lindsay as long as you are by his side"

"I hope so" Lindsay replied as they stepped out of the elevator.

"I know so" Jo replied "to the world Lindsay you are just one person but when I see the way Danny looks at you I know to him, you are his entire world"

Lindsay giggled "Where did you get that from?"

"My Mama" Jo smiled proudly

They started to walk down the corridor to Danny's room when Lindsay came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Jo asked.

Lindsay looked at Hawkes and Sid who were just coming out of Danny's room "What is he doing here?"


	14. Chapter 14

**14 is here :) Thank you for all my lovely reviews, let me know what you think of this chapter and enjoy :)**

Lindsay marched down the corridor "What are you doing here?" she asked with anger in her voice.

"I brought him here Lindsay, I thought it would be good for him to see Danny, to see he is still alive" Sid replied sheepishly

"Alive? Barely"

"Lindsay he could be a lot worse" Sid replied with a little more confidence.

"You mean he could be laid on one of your slabs? Well looking at him in there he may as well be"

"Lindsay" Jo said coming up behind her and placing her hand on the younger women's shoulder.

"No Jo" Lindsay replied shrugging Jo's hand away "He has no right to be here, I know what he did was an accident but he still shot my husband and right now I just can't be around him"

Hawkes just nodded accepting what Lindsay was saying. "I'm sorry Lindsay" he said speaking up for the first time.

"No Sheldon, you've got nothing to apologise for, if you hadn't of shot Edward there was a chance he could of used another gun to shoot you" Sid told him.

"He has everything to apologise for" Lindsay said tears pooling in her eyes "My daughter could grow up without a father because of him"

"Come on Lindsay, you don't mean these things" Jo came and put her arm around Lindsay.

"I do, I do mean them, I could lose my husband"

"No, Lindsay you are just upset and I know you are using your words rather than your fists which is what I tell Ellie to do but I think right now you just need to take five minutes and get yourself together"

Lindsay nodded and pushed her way into Danny's room sighing when she realised he had been left alone, she went and sat in the chair next to his bed, taking hold of his hand "Danny, I'm sorry, I didn't know he was planning to come, If I did I wouldn't of let him in to see you" she played with his fingers "I'm trying to be brave for you here but I'm not sure how much longer I can do it, I've already broke down to Flack" she shuffled the chair closer and rested her head gently on Danny's shoulder and whispered "I want you to hold me in your arms again"

The door opened slowly and Stella popped her head round "Hey"

Lindsay sat up "Hey" she replied

"Are you okay?"

"Not really, Hawkes was here"

"Oh I know, I let him and Sid stay with Danny while I walked to the exit with Mac and then grabbed a cup of coffee"

"Stella I don't really want him around Danny right now"

"Why? They're friends aren't they?"

"Hawkes shot him"

"Lindsay, you know it was an accident"

"I know it was, but still right now we don't know that Danny knows that and hearing Hawkes voice might make him worse not better and I can't risk that" she wiped away the tears that were falling down her cheeks "I need him back Stella, I want my Danny back"

Stella came over kneeling in front of Lindsay she wrapped her arms around her "He's here Linds, Danny's here"

"No, no he's not, that's just a shell of him, I want him back, I want the Danny back who makes me laugh, gives me cuddles when I'm upset or worried, The Danny who if I'm working late or have had a stressful day will have my favourite dinner waiting for me when I arrive home and a nice hot bath run The Danny that runs through central park with Lucy on his shoulders, the Danny who's face lights up every time he hears Lucy say 'I love you Daddy', The Danny who will come to the theatre with me to see Wicked or Priscilla even though I've seen them a hundred times before and he hates them, he will still come because he knows it makes me happy. I just miss him Stella and I don't want anyone coming in here and upsetting him because right now he can't tell me whether he is happy or not so I need to judge that for myself, so I can't take the risk and let Hawkes come to visit"

"I think you're being a little harsh on him Linds, he needs to be able to visit Danny, it will help him get over what happened"

"Harsh? I don't think so Stella, he shot my husband, look at him" she pointed to the bed "look at Danny"

Stella stood up, looking at Danny laid there on the bed "I know, I just think if it was me I might of sat down with Hawkes and spoken about it, maybe let him visit Danny so he can try to sort everything out in his head"

"I thought you were on my side with this Stella"

"There are no sides here Lindsay"

"I need to go... I need to get some fresh air" Lindsay stood up and stormed out the room.

Stella sighed, sitting in the chair that Lindsay had just vacated she looked down at Danny "I know what you're thinking Messer but she needed to hear my honest opinion"

Lindsay sat down on a bench in the little garden outside the hospital, pulling out her phone from her pocket she smiled through her tears at the background picture, it was taken a few months ago when the three of them had gone for a picnic at the park, Lucy was on Danny's back her chin rested on his shoulder and Lindsay was stood next to them, she had held the phone out and taken a picture of all three of them grinning at the camera.

She scrolled through her contacts till she came across the one she was looking for, she pressed call and held the phone up to her ear.

"_Flack"_

"Flack it's me, I need you, I can't do this anymore" she sobbed into the phone

"_Lindsay? Linds, what's wrong?" _Flack asked his voice filled with concern

"Hawkes showed up at the hospital and Stella let him visit Danny, we just got into this stupid argument about it"

"_He showed up there?"_

"Yeah, he was coming out of Danny's room when Jo and I arrived"

"_What was he thinking? It's not even been 48 hours since it happened, I thought even he would realise to keep his distance for a while. Where's Jo now?"_

"I'm not even sure, I left her outside Danny's room with Hawkes and Sid but I never saw her after that"

"_Well hopefully she is having words with him somewhere, letting him know it's too soon, If she isn't then I will be, I'm not having him upset you or Danny"_

"Can you come down here Flack? I know your hurt and I wouldn't normally ask but I could really do with a friend right now"

"_Lindsay, I'm already in the taxi" _Flack replied

**So I just want to know in your opinion who do you thinks right Stella or Lindsay? :P**


	15. Chapter 15

**I really don't like this chapter but it needs to be posted so I thought I'd put it up as soon as I can and get it out there haha! Let me know what you think of it? hopefully you won't hate it as much as I do!**

Jo made her way back across the car park after sending Sheldon and Sid on there way, she couldn't believe he had the nerve to show up like that after everything that had happened. She decided to take the short cut across the garden to the hospital entrance, as she approached she heard sobbing coming from behind one of the bushes. Being the detective that she was she decided to investigate, she slowly made her way around as to not scare the person on the other side.

Going round she noticed it was Lindsay who was sobbing, she was laid on the bench in the foetal position crying into the long sleeves of the jumper she wore, which Jo guessed by the size of it on the petite women was Danny's. "Lindsay?" She said as she approached the bench.

Lindsay raised her head and looked up at Jo with a red tear stained face.

"Oh Lindsay honey, what are the tears for?" Jo asked sitting down on the bench next to the younger women and wrapping her arm around her as Lindsay sat up.

"I'm just being stupid Jo" Lindsay sniffed wiping her eyes "I'll be okay"

"People only cry when something has truly upset them, so I want to know what's upset you so much" she reached into her pocket of her cardigan with her hand and pulled out a tissue and passed it to Lindsay.

"Thanks" Lindsay replied wiping her eyes "Stella let Hawkes in Jo, She told me she thought I was being harsh for not wanting him there"

"Oh Lindsay of course you're not being harsh what he did was terrible an accident of course but it was still terrible. I've spoken to Hawkes and made it very clear he is not to come to the hospital unless he gets your permission first"

Lindsay nodded "Thank you"

"Shall we go back up and see that lovely husband of yours?" Jo asked

Lindsay shook her head "I don't want to face Stella right now and I need to wait for Flack anyway"

"Okay, well how about if I go up and speak to Stella for you while you wait for Flack, ask if maybe she can give you and Danny a bit of time alone?"

"Would you do that?"

"Of course I will" Jo smiled hugging the younger women and then standing up.

"Thanks Jo" Lindsay said letting out a small smile.

"It's nothing, I just want you to come straight up when Don arrives though okay?"

"We will" Lindsay replied and then watched Jo walk towards the entrance.

Lindsay pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, she still couldn't believe the mess her family was in, two days ago they were the perfect family of three and she was just about to tell Danny it would soon be four and now she was sat here in a hospital garden wondering if her husband would ever come out of a coma and her daughter was at home without either parent for a second night running which Lindsay hated.

She looked up when she heard a car approaching and smiled when she saw Flack getting out of the car, she stood up and ran over to him. He caught her in his good arm and hugged her tightly "Thank you for coming" she whispered into his chest.

"It's no problem" he replied. "Now let's get you into the warm"

Lindsay nodded and with Flack's good arm wrapped around her shoulders together they walked into the hospital.

Jo pushed open the door to Danny's room where she found Stella sat by Danny's bedside holding his hand "May I have a word?"

"Of course" Stella smiled

"Out here" Jo replied nodding her head towards the corridor.

"Okay" Stella got up and made her way out into the corridor, sitting down next to Jo who had already sat in the chairs that were opposite Danny's room.

"Look, I know we don't really know each other but I'm trying to be here for Lindsay and I know you are her friend but right now you've really upset her and I think honestly it will be best if you just leave her to spend some time with Danny"

"Pardon?" Stella asked shocked not quite believing what this women she hardly knew was saying.

"I just think it will best all round if you took yourself out for a bit, let you and Lindsay gather your thoughts and then maybe a few days you'll be able to have a rational conversation"

"I was being rational, Lindsay and I are great friends who have just had a little misunderstanding we can sort it out ourselves"

"I'm just trying to look out for Lindsay that's all"

"And you don't think I am?" Stella asked standing up with anger.

"I never said that"

"You implied it, I've known Lindsay and Danny a lot longer than you have, I think I know how to look after my friend"

"I'm sure you do, but you've been away Stella things have changed around here whether you like it or not"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean Lindsay and I have gotten close, I want to watch out for her"

"Well you can watch out for her by all means just don't come and tell me how I should be with her understand?" Stella turned and stormed off down the corridor.

Jo sighed watching her leave, hoping she hadn't just made things worse for Lindsay.

Lindsay and Flack excited the elevator bumping into Danny's doctor as they did "Oh hey Dr Jenkins, I was planning on coming to see you a bit later" Lindsay said with a smile.

"Oh how funny, I was just on my way to see you"

"Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly

"Everything is fine let's go to my office and talk" as they walked down the corridor he turned to Lindsay "what did you want me for?"

"I just wanted to know if it was a good idea for me to bring mine and Danny's three year old to visit him tomorrow"

"I don't see that as being a problem as long as they understand that he won't be able to reply to them and they don't go jumping on the bed or anything"

"No, she knows Daddy is poorly I spoke to her earlier, I think she will be fine"

"Then I see no problem with her visiting for a short while" he smiled opening the door of his office to allow Lindsay and Flack in. After they were all sat Dr Jenkins looked at Lindsay "So I'm guessing your friends have mentioned the progress your Husband has made?"

"No?" Lindsay replied looking over at Flack.

Flack gave her a confused look "Don't look at me, I don't know what he is on about"

Lindsay turned back to the doctor "What progress?"

"Well while you were away yesterday, two of your friends were in the room with Danny talking to him and it seems as though he was hearing them and tried to reply, it was only a mumble and it is still early days but it's a very positive sign"

Lindsay gasped excitedly "He made contact? Really?"

"Yeah, as I say it was only a mumble"

"I don't care, he is trying" she turned to Flack grabbing his hand in both of hers "Flack you were right he is fighting, My Danny is fighting"

"He is Lindsay, I told you he would" Flack smiled, he enjoyed seeing the excited Lindsay make a reappearance, but then as suddenly as she arrived she disappeared

"My friends knew this and didn't tell me?" She asked with annoyance and sadness back in her voice.


	16. Chapter 16

**okay, here is another chapter, I'm quite pleased with this chapter, just don't like the little bit involving Hawkes, but I'm sure it's fine anyway let me know what you think and enjoy :)**

Adam walked down the hospital corridor, he hadn't slept much last night as his mind kept thinking of Danny, so as soon as the sun had risen that morning he had gotten up and made is way to the hospital, he looked at his watch 7:45am, he knew it was kind of early to be visiting but he was sure Danny wouldn't mind.

Pushing open the door to Danny's room he saw Lindsay and Flack sat on the couch together talking "Hey" he smiled as he entered

"Hey Adam, a little early for you isn't it?" Flack asked.

"I couldn't really sleep so thought I'd come and keep Danny company"

"See Linds, Adam here has perfect timing"

Adam looked at Flack with a confused expression "I do?"

"Yep, I was just saying to Lindsay that we need to get some breakfast and then head back to hers to collect Lucy who is probably chomping at the bit to come down here and driving her sitter mad, but Lindsay didn't want to leave Danny alone"

"Oh, then yeah I guess I do have good timing cos I mean I'm alright to sit with Danny while you go and do all that" he smiled.

"Can we go now?" Flack asked Lindsay.

She nodded then looked at Adam "A few rules though okay? One, If Hawkes comes you don't let him in and two if Danny does anything and I mean anything you phone me straight away" Lindsay had spoken to Flack in the night and decided not to bring up the subject to anyone about no one telling her that Danny had mumbled, but she wasn't going to miss him doing anything for the second time.

Adam swallowed nervously and nodded.

Lindsay made her way over to Danny and gave him a kiss on the forehead "Baby I'm just going to collect Luce to come and visit you, I'll be back soon. I love you"

"Come on then" Flack smiled holding out his good hand for Lindsay who happily took it and together they left the room.

Adam went over and sat on one of the chairs next to Danny's bed "Hey" he mumbled "It's me Adam, but I'm sure you know that" he shuffled the chair closer to the bed.

"I'm glad the others have left us alone as I've been doing some thinking and there are lots of things I want to tell you Danny and I've got to tell you now in case... well in case I don't get the chance to again. First off I wanted to say thank you, you've been a brilliant friend to me over the past 8 or so years, I kinda think of you as a big brother, did you know that? I really look up to you" he ran his hand through his hair "I'm gonna get all soppy here so you should prepare yourself

I want to be like you Danny when I get to your age, I want what you've got the beautiful wife the adorable daughter but I don't see that happening, I'm not like you. You're clever, funny, confident, and you really know how to treat a lady and what am I? I'm a shy, mumbling fool. Although there was that time with Stella... Yeah you heard right man, I slept with Stella, it was after the shooting and we both went to a bar and got a little drunk, then we ended up back at my place. It was only a one time thing, but I guess that's me all over right? Only good for one night. Why can't I find my Lindsay? Someone who loves me like she loves you, Cos god does she love you, she's hardly left your side, Mac's had to sign her off work, he said he couldn't have her working with you here like this as her mind wouldn't be on the job. So Danny you need to wake up because with the two of you off work and Hawkes being to traumatised to work right now Mac is making me go in the field more and that's scary. You know what I do when I get scared though? I sit and think 'what would Danny do if he was here?' I have done that ever since the Irish mobsters held us hostage because you were so brave then and thinking back to that and wondering what you would do helps me to be a little braver."

Adam stood up and walked over to the couch to gather his emotions, running his hands though his hair he sighed.

Hawkes pushed open Mac's door "You wanted to see me?" he asked nervously

"Yes, take a seat" Mac replied

Hawkes sat down and linked his hands together on his lap "Is this about the shooting?"

Mac nodded "I just wanted to let you know before I tell anyone else that IA have deemed it a clean shoot"

Hawkes ran his hands over his face "Oh thank god for that"

"I'm still not happy about you using the gun though"

"It was in self defence Mac, surely that's an acceptable time for me to use the gun?"

"Hawkes, he had other guns on him, he could of quickly turned them on you"

Hawkes nodded "I know"

"How are you feeling about all of this?"

"Not great to be honest Mac, I mean I shot my friend it's hard to think about, I'm not sleeping well, my doctor has had to prescribe me some sleeping pills"

"have you been to see the departments psychologist yet?"

"I've had a couple of sessions and it's helping to talk about it with her"

"That's good, Have you spoken to Lindsay anymore?"

"No Mac, she still won't talk to me" Hawkes sighed.

"She'll come around, She just needs time"

"I hope she will, I don't want to loose her as a friend"

"I'm sure you won't" Mac replied with a warm smile

Hawkes nodded " to be honest Mac, I am really struggling to deal with all of this but I guess I better leave you to get on with some work"

"No, no it's fine" Mac replied

"No, it's fine I should be going anyway, got another appointment with my doctor later"

"Okay, but you know where we are and whenever your ready to come back to work then your job is here"

"Thanks" Hawkes replied before exciting the office and heading towards the elevators.

An Hour later Lindsay walked excited the elevator with Flack and Lucy who was holding her hand "Do I look okay Mummy?" Lucy asked

Lindsay smiled down at her daughter who was dressed in her white nurses dress with pink leggings, a little nurses hat sat on her head, her hair was loose her honey blonde curls falling down her back, her pink converse were on her feet and in her hand she carried her doctors kit. "You look perfect"

Lucy smiled "Where's Daddy's room?"

"It's just along here" Flack told her. "Your babysitter seemed very nice Lucy"

"She is, she painted my nails" Lucy held her hand up to show Flack her pink nails "See?"

"They're beautiful" he told her.

They walked along a little further till they came to Danny's room. Lucy stopped outside the door "You can go in Luce" Lindsay smiled

"You go first" she replied coming to stand behind her Mother.

Lindsay turned around and picked her daughter up "Let's go in together"

"Okay" Lucy replied wrapping one arm around Lindsay's neck and keeping hold of her doctors kit tightly in the other hand.

Adam smiled when he saw them enter "Oh good your back, I really need the loo but didn't want to leave him" he smiled before quickly ducking out

Lindsay let out a little laugh at Adam and then stopped at the end of Danny's bed with Lucy who whispered "Daddy?"

"Yeah baby, that's Daddy"

"No it isn't, that's not my Daddy" Lucy wiggled out of Lindsay's arms and went to hide behind Flack's legs.

Lindsay knelt down in front of Lucy "Luce that is Daddy, remember I told you Daddy was poorly?"

Lucy nodded her arm still wrapped around Flack's leg.

"And remember Daddy is sleeping like Snow White?"

Lucy nodded again, slowly letting go of Flack's leg and making her way into Lindsay's arms.

Lindsay picked her back up "Let's go sit on the chair and talk to Daddy, I think he will like he hear your voice"

"Daddy?" Lucy said as she sat on Lindsay's lap "It's me Daddy, can you hear me?" she waited for a reply, looking up at Lindsay with a confused expression when she didn't receive one.

"He can't talk back to you, sweetie"

"Oh" Lucy pouted, then reaching out slowly she placed her hand in Danny's "I brought my doctors kit Daddy, I gonna make you all better"

Flack noticed Lindsay's eyes starting to fill with tears, so he made his way over and carefully lifted Lucy from her lap and swapped places with her so the little girl was now on his lap.

Lindsay walked out the door without saying anything.

"Where's Mummy going?" Lucy asked.

"She just needed some fresh air, she'll be back soon" Flack replied dropping a kiss on to the toddlers head.

Lindsay sat on the chair outside Danny's room and wiped the tears from her eyes, she hated the fact that with being pregnant and Danny being in a coma her hormones were everywhere. She took a few moments to pull herself together and was just about to get up when her phone started to ring, pulling it out from the bag she answered it without looking at who was calling. "Messer"

"_Hey Linds, it's me, I need to apologise to you" _ Stella said into the phone.

"It's fine Stella, I probably over reacted as well"

"_No you didn't, I've been doing some thinking, do you remember the Hollis Eckhart case?"_

"The bloke who killed the three innocent people in revenge of the three people that basically helped to kill his wife?"

"_That's the one, do you remember what you said to me back then?"_

"No" Lindsay replied.

"_Linds you told me that heart break is a rage you can't control and right now I think that's a little of what you are feeling isn't it?"_

"Heartbroken? Yeah I guess apart of me is, Stell"

"_So next time you want to get angry, you know where I am"_

"Thank you Stella"

"_You're more than welcome, I shall let you go as I'm sure you want to be with Danny and I'm meant to be helping Mac out at the lab"_

"Okay, I'll ring you a little later" Lindsay hung up the phone and stood up making her way back into Danny's room. She smiled when she entered Flack had sat Lucy on the edge of Danny's bed, she was talking to him and holding his hand on her lap, Lindsay came and perched on the arm rest of Flack's chair listening to Lucy.

"I had a sleepover last night Daddy, with Sophie it was so much fun, when you wake up I think me and you and Mummy should have one" she grinned.

"I'm sure we can sort that out Luce, once Daddy is feeling up to it" Lindsay told her.

Lucy smiled then looked down at Danny "Daddy I love you"

All three sat and watched as Danny's hand tightened around Lucy's.


	17. Chapter 17

**A little A/N before this chapter, I just wanted to let everyone know that Danny's recovery isn't going to happen like the movies he isn't just going to wake up and be fine, so you should expect a long process, just in case any of you were thinking he might get better really soon :)**

Nurse Stacey Walker entered Danny's room to change his drip and to check his stats. Pushing open the door with her trolley she stopped when she saw the three visitors in the room sat staring at the patient who was on the bed "Is everything okay?"

Lucy turned her head round and looked at the nurse with her big blue eyes "Daddy squeezed my hand"

"He did?" Stacey asked putting her trolley over to one side and walking towards the bed.

"Yeah" Lindsay told her "he's not done that before"

Stacey nodded and checked Danny's machines "It's a very good sign, means he is out of the deep coma stage, He should be waking up in the next few days. You should know though it's not like it is in films, he won't wake up and be talking straight away, waking up from a coma takes a while. The patient is normally very confused and disoriented for days or weeks after waking up"

Lindsay nodded understanding "What happens now though?"

"Well I have to change his drip bag, then I'll talk to the doctor, he may want to take your husband for an MRI scan to see how his brain is functioning now"

"Okay" Lindsay replied standing up, she picked Lucy up and sat her on her hip. "We'll go grab something to eat while you change the drip"

"No" Lucy pouted "I wanna stay with Daddy"

"Sweetie, the nurse is giving Daddy some medicine to make him better, Let's just grab a sandwhich while she does that then we can come back"

Tears filled Lucy's eyes "No, I want my Daddy"

"Lucy" Flack looked up at the three year old "I'll stay here with your Daddy"

"I want too, I needs to make him better" tears rolled down her cheeks.

Flack bent down, he picked up Lucy's doctors kit from where it was on the floor. Opening it he took out the stethoscope and placed it around his neck "See, I can make him better for you"

Lucy shook her head and then hid her face in Lindsay's neck "Daddy" she cried over and over again.

"I'm just gonna take her" Lindsay told Flack.

Flack nodded and watched Lindsay and Lucy leave the room, he felt a lump in his throat, he hated seeing Lucy upset. Especially when he knew there was no way for him to make it better. He waited for the nurse to finish sorting Danny out and leave before he began to speak to his friend.

"You hear that Danno? She needs her Daddy so you gotta try real hard, even if it's just for her to get yourself better. She's been so strong so far and so has Lindsay. They both need you though Danny" Flack ran his good hand through his hair "I'm sorry Danno, If it wasn't for me getting shot, you probably wouldn't be in this position, you would be at home with Lindsay and Lucy where you belong. I hope when you wake up you'll be able to forgive me"

Lindsay sat at a bench along the corridor with Lucy on her lap still sobbing "Baby, it's okay, Daddy will be okay" She rubbed Lucy's back as she held her close.

"I want my Daddy" Lucy sobbed

Lindsay looked up when she heard footsteps coming down the corridor and smiled when she saw Mac approaching "Lucy look who's here"

Lucy clung onto Lindsay's shirt though refusing to look up.

"Hey you two, what are you doing sat out here?" Mac asked sitting next to them.

"We were off to get some lunch but someone got a bit upset about leaving Daddy" Lindsay replied kissing the top of Lucy's head. "he squeezed her hand Mac, I think she thought he was going to wake up"

"Oh Lucy, Daddy will still be asleep for a while yet" Mac told the three year old who still refused to look at him.

"She'll come round soon Mac, I think it's best to leave her right now" Lindsay said wrapping her arms around her daughter tighter.

Mac nodded "I just came to tell you that Edward, the suspect has been taken to Manhattan psychiatric centre, where I think he will be staying for a long time"

Lindsay nodded "What about Hawkes?"

"It was determined a clean shoot Lindsay, he is able to come back to work whenever he feels up to it"

Lindsay sighed, she noticed Lucy's breathing had evened out so gathered she had fallen to sleep "He shot my Husband Mac"

"Only because Danny jumped in the way Lindsay, if he hadn't the bullet would of caught Edward in the arm most probably, disabling him from attacking Hawkes"

"Yeah, I still just can't forgive him yet for what he did"

"That's understandable Lindsay, I'm still struggling myself to get my head around what happened, Hawkes knows he's not meant to use a gun" Mac stood up "Shall we make are way back to Danny's room?"

"Yeah okay" She replied carefully standing up not wanting to wake Lucy.

"Want me to take her?" Mac asked.

"No, it's okay, I can't risk having her wake up on you, no offence it's just she isn't in the best place at the moment anyway. I knew it was a bad idea bringing her here"

"No it wasn't, she needed to see him, It'll help her sort out in her head what's going on"

"Yeah your right, it's just hard seeing her so upset" Lindsay adjusted Lucy in her arms slightly as they walked down the corridor.

"Of course it will be, she's your little girl" Mac pushed open the door to Danny's room to find the Flack sat there but no bed and no Danny.

"Where is he?" Lindsay asked carrying Lucy over to the couch and laying her down on it.

"He's been taken down for an MRI" Flack told her "They said he should be back with in half hour"

"Okay" Lindsay replied, she knelt down and carefully pulled Lucy's converse off, standing back up she pulled Danny's jumper off of her and laid it over Lucy. "Hopefully it'll bring good news" she said going over and sitting in the chair on the other side of the room.

"I'm sure it will Linds" Flack replied.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you everyone for all my lovely reviews they really make me smile. Here is another chapter for all you lovely people! Enjoy :)**

Flack, Mac Lindsay and Lucy were all still in Danny's room. It had been 35 minutes since Danny had been taken down for his MRI scan and he still hadn't been brought back. "I hope he is okay" Lindsay said breaking the silence from the couch where she sat stroking the still sleeping Lucy's hair.

"I'm sure he's fine" Mac replied.

"Well why is it taking so long?" She asked.

"Maybe they had to wait for someone else to finish with the machine or the scan just took longer than they thought" Mac told her.

"I think I'm going to go and find out what's going on" she said standing up.

"Linds, I'll go just in case Lucy wakes up and you're gone" Flack smiled getting up and walking to the door.

"Thank you" Lindsay replied sitting back down on the couch.

Flack made his way down the corridor to the nurses station "Hey"

The nurse sat at the desk "Hey" she replied "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if everything was going okay with my friend's MRI scan"

"What's your friend's name?"

"Danny Messer, he went down about half an hour ago, we thought he would be back by now"

"Oh, I've just had a phone call, he should be on his way up soon" she smiled.

"Thank you" he replied, he made his way back down to Danny's room, pushing open the door he popped his head round "He is on his way back up Linds, I'm just gonna get some fresh air though"

"Okay thank you" Lindsay smiled.

Flack made his way back down to the exit, he needed some fresh air and he didn't want to hear Danny's MRI results from the doctor, he knew if it was bad news he would lose it and he knew that wasn't wise to do in the hospital.

He made his way to the garden and was about to sit down when he saw a familiar face crossing the car park 'what's he doing here?' he thought, making his way over "Hey" he shouted

Hawkes turned around spotting Flack making his way over "Hey"

"What are you doing here? Lindsay made it perfectly clear she didn't want you around Danny"

"I'm not here for Danny, I'm seeing my doctor"

"Why don't I believe you?" Flacks said moving closer to Hawkes.

"You can believe what you want" Hawkes replied stepping backwards.

"I told you didn't I, not to be a hero, So why did you do it?" Flack said feeling himself getting angry.

"He was gonna shoot me, Flack, I had too"

"No you didn't, you needed to disarm him, knock him out or something"

"I wasn't thinking" Hawkes replied, he had never seen eye to eye with Flack.

"No and look what's happened to my best mate because you didn't think"

"I'm sorry" Hawkes replied confidently

"Sorry? You're Sorry. Well I guess that's okay then?"

Without thinking, Hawkes pushed Flack just to get him out of his face.

Flack wasn't expecting to be pushed and ended up losing his balance and landing on the floor. getting up quickly, he held up his fist of his good arm and was about to punch Hawkes for pushing him over when he felt a hand grab his wrist.

"Enough" Mac said sternly "Do you think Danny would want the two of you fighting like this?"

Flack sighed shaking his head "I need some space" he replied walking off back towards the garden.

"Sheldon, it probably wasn't wise for you to be here, I told you that" Mac said turning to face Hawkes.

"I had to see the doctor here Mac, what else was I meant to do?"

"You could of have told me your appointment was here, I could have let the others know to expect you on the site"

"I didn't think" Hawkes sighed "I guess I'm doing a lot of that recently"

"Stop beating yourself up" Mac said placing his hand on Hawkes' shoulder.

"I can't help it and I'd rather beat myself up than have Flack do it for me" Hawkes told his boss "I better go or I'll be late for my appointment"

"Okay, I need to head back to the lab anyway, Jo's just called we've got a new case come in"

"I guess I'll see you later then"

"Yeah, see you soon" Mac smiled warmly then made his way over to his car.

Lindsay sat in the room with Lucy who was still sleeping, but not as deeply as normal, she kept fidgeting and mumbling in her sleep which was very unlike Lucy. "Oh baby" She whispered to the sleeping child "I wish I could make this all go away for the both of us, but Mummy can't do that right now" She ran her fingers through Lucy's curls "I'm sure your Daddy will wake up soon, then you'll be able to give him lots of cuddles and..." she looked up when Danny's door opened, two porters pushed Danny back in on his bed. Doctor Jenkins followed behind.

"How did it go?" Lindsay asked, as she made her way over to the bed.

"It went well, the scan shows he is making some great improvements, we spoke to him while he was in the machine and from the scan it seems like he was hearing what we were saying, maybe even trying to respond" he smiled.

"Oh that's brilliant" Lindsay replied "How long do you think till he wakes up?"

"I can't give you a time scale Mrs Messer, it could be tomorrow or it could be next week, Just keep talking to him, I like to think that it helps"

Lindsay nodded as she held Danny's hand "As long as he is improving that's all that matters"

"Exactly" Doctor Jenkins replied "That's a very good way to look at it" he smiled looking over at Lucy "Got too much for her?"

Lindsay smiled "Yeah, she got a little upset and ended up crying herself to sleep"

"I'm sure when she wakes she'll be pleased to hear Daddy is getting better"

"Yeah I'm sure she will" Lindsay smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

**So here is another update, this has been one of my favourite chapters to write so I hope you all enjoy it too :)**

Flack kicked a can that was on the floor across the grass, he knew he should have picked it up and put it in the trash but he was just too angry. How dare Hawkes turn up here again and then to go and push him over as well. He hoped he didn't bump into the former ME again for a while because if he did he was sure that punch would land.

Why did Mac have to show up then? Maybe if he had landed that punch it would of made him feel better for everything that happened. No he thought no, punching Hawkes isn't the answer, it won't solve anything, he learnt that after he shot the guy who helped to kill Jess. That's why he needed to stay away from him. God Mac was right, what would Danny think when he woke up knowing that all this had been going on? Flack sat on a bench, holding his head in his hand he sighed. He needed to keep everything together for Danny, For Lindsay and Lucy.

Lindsay, she must be wondering where he had got too. He stood up from the bench and made his way back inside the hospital. Before going up to Danny's room though he grabbed a chocolate bar out of the vending machine for Lucy hoping it would put a smile back on the three year old's face, even if it was just for a little while. Putting the chocolate bar inside his sling he made his way up to Danny's room deciding to take the stairs in hopes that it would help relieve some of his pent up anger before he arrived at the room.

Lucy opened her eyes, sitting up she looked round confused "Mummy?"

Lindsay stood up from where she sat on the chair next to Danny's bed and made her way over to her daughter "Hey Luce, how are you feeling now?" She asked sitting next to her.

"Where's Daddy?" she asked ignoring Lindsay's question.

"He's on the bed sweetie, where he was before you went to sleep"

Lucy slid of the couch and made her way over to Danny's bed. She climbed up on the chair that Lindsay had just vacated "Daddy?" she asked taking his hand in her little one. There was no squeeze this time.

"Lucy, the doctor just came to visit me" Lindsay said going over and kneeling on the floor next to the chair "He said Daddy is getting better"

"Why's he still sleeping then?"

"Because it will take him a while to wake up, but he will wake up Luce"

Lucy stood up on the chair, carefully she climbed up on to the bed "Luce, what are you doing?" Lindsay asked hovering, ready to grab Lucy if she knelt on something she shouldn't.

"I just having a cuddle" She replied matter of factly as she laid down carefully on Danny's right side, tucking herself under his arm and resting her head on his chest.

Since coming up from the MRI Danny had had a lot of his wires taken off of him and his breathing tube had been replaced with a nasal cannula as the Doctor was happy that Danny could now breathe unaided.

"Only for a little while then Luce" Lindsay told her, sitting in the chair and watching her daughter carefully.

The door was pushed open and Flack popped his head round "Am I okay to come in?"

"Of course you are" Lindsay replied.

Flack came in, he smiled at the sight of Lucy and Danny. "She woke up then?" he asked sitting on the other chair in Danny's room.

"Yeah, about ten minutes ago, insisted that she had a cuddle with her Daddy"

"Well I'm sure she's not doing any harm" he smiled "What did the doctor say?"

"He was pleased with how the scan went, said that Danny is making a lot of improvements, apparently his brain was responding to their voices in the scanner." she replied, taking hold of Danny's hand that was wrapped around Lucy.

"That's good" Flack smiled

"Yeah it is" she played with Danny's fingers "Now we just have to sit and wait"

"but at least you're waiting for the right thing Linds, you know no matter how long it takes it's going to be a positive thing that happens"

Lindsay nodded, knowing what Flack was trying to say.

"I saw Mac in the car park, where was he off too?" Flack asked, not wanting to tell her the whole story of why he saw Mac.

"Oh Jo phoned, they've got a new case come in. I guess with me Danny and Hawkes out they are a few hands down so he had to go in"

"Yeah, I guess I should go in really, but there isn't a lot I can do"

"No, I guess with it being your left arm you can't even do desk work can you?"

"Nope, not for another six weeks" he sighed.

"What are you going to do for six whole weeks?"

"Look after you and Luce" Flack replied without even thinking about it. He remembered the chocolate bar in his sling, he slid it out "Luce, I got you a present" he told her holding it up.

Lucy held her head up "Chocolate" she said with a small smile, then turned to Lindsay "Can I have it Mummy?"

"Of course you can Luce, but what do you say to Uncle Flack?"

"Thank you" Lucy said, giving Flack another small smile.

Lindsay took the chocolate bar from Flack and placed it in her bag "I think we need to get you something else first though like a sandwich. We never did get round to getting one earlier"

Lucy nodded "I am a bit hungry"

Lindsay lifted her off the bed "Are you okay to wait here Flack while I just grab a couple of sandwiches?"

"Yeah of course" Flack replied.

"Want one?" She asked holding Lucy on her hip.

"Yeah I think I will, just get me anything"

"Okay" Lindsay replied and then not making a big deal out of it as she didn't want to upset Lucy again, she left the room and carried Lucy down to the café.

"Just me and you again Danno" Flack said. "It's good news what the doctor said right? We are gonna get you back. I never thought I'd say this but I can't wait to hear your voice again" he smiled to himself "It's so weird without you actually here, I'm so used to having a problem and being able to talk to you about it and right now I can't do that and I really need someone to talk to, But I'm not going to sit here now and tell you all about my problems because it won't help with your recovery.

You should see your Lucy, she is dressed in the cutest little nurses outfit, she wants to make you all better, even brought her doctors kit along too, you know the one Sid brought her for her last birthday. I still find it strange you've got a three year old, who would've thought Danny Messer would ever have a kid? I certainly didn't" Flack laughed.

"Oh, I should've told you earlier, I spoke to your parents the day I was released from here, I was gonna suggest Lindsay did it but she needed to be by your side. Anyway, there in Italy at the moment visiting your family. They wanted to come home and be with you but I said you had all of us around you and to be honest there isn't a lot they could of done except sit by your bedside, so I told them to stay and enjoy the rest of their holiday which they agreed to do. Well of course they probably won't enjoy it now knowing you're in here but still... anyway, I hope I did the right thing"

Flack picked up a magazine that lay on Danny's bedside table "Ahh, one of Lindsay's true story magazines" he looked over the front cover "Which story shall I read you? Let me tell you your options, we have 'Help my breasts exploded' or there is 'I married a Ferris wheel' or 'I got tattooed with the wrong name' Does Linds really find this stuff interesting? I bet it's not even hers, this is so something I could see Stella reading and enjoying" He flicked through the pages "Ooh there's a crossword Danno... Oh wait what's this? A match the celebrity's face to her breasts. I'm sure we can do this one together and it'll be a lot easier for me to do with my arm, I'll just have to draw a line"

Flack got up and looked around the room for a pen so he could do the puzzle but he couldn't seem to find one "I'm just gonna go ask at the desk for a pen and pop to the loo, I'll be back" Flack said making his way out the door and towards the nurses station.

Flack had been gone for less than two minutes when Danny's eyes slowly fluttered open.


	20. Chapter 20

**another chapter for you all to enjoy :)**

Lindsay and Lucy had their lunch in the café, She had decided to tell her daughter about her new sibling in the hopes it would give her something good to think about. They entered the elevator with Lucy in Lindsay's arms, she knew that she should make Lucy walk but she also knew that soon she wouldn't be able to carry her when her stomach began to grow. So while she was still able to she would. "So Auntie Jo is going to come and collect you and you can have another sleep over with her and Ellie, sound good?"

Lucy shook her head "Wanna stay with you"

"Lucy, you don't want to spend time in this boring place, when you can be having fun with Auntie Jo and Ellie"

"Can't I come home with you?"

"I'm not going home baby, I'm gonna stay here with Daddy"

"Well I want to stay with Daddy too" Lucy said adamantly

"There is nowhere for you to sleep Luce"

"I can sleep on Daddy's bed with him"

"You can't, I shouldn't have really let you on there earlier" Lindsay told her as they excited the elevator.

"Can I have a sleep over round Uncle Flacks?"

"You don't want to go to Auntie Jo's?" Lindsay asked

"No, wanna stay with you or Uncle Flack"

"Okay, well when we get back to Daddy's room I'll ask him"

"Okay" Lucy smiled, resting her head on Lindsay's shoulder.

They walked up the rest of the way to Danny's room in silence, Lindsay stopped outside Danny's door when she saw it open. Danny was laid on the bed with his eyes still shut but Doctor Jenkins was inside looking at a print out from Danny's ECG machine.

Lindsay walked in slowly "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, Mrs Messer, I was wondering where you were" Doctor Jenkins replied turning around.

"What's wrong?" She asked placing Lucy down on the chair.

"Nothing is wrong, just while you were away, Danny's machine started to beep. A nurse came into see what was wrong and by the looks of things it seems his heart rate increased slightly for about thirty seconds. See here" he held out the piece of paper to show her.

"What does that mean?" she asked taking hold of the paper.

"It's a good sign. At the moment his heart beat is at a resting pace, but when it increased it means he did something to trigger that, we are not sure what but it definitely means for those thirty seconds he was responsive" Doctor Jenkins smiled "He could have even woken up"

"Really?" Lindsay asked

"Yes, we will be keeping a close eye on your husband in the next couple of days as it seems he is well on his way to waking up and coming out of this coma"

"That is brilliant news" Lindsay looked around wanting to see the reaction of her lanky blue eyed friend but noticed he wasn't there "Where's Flack?"

"Your friend? He hasn't been in here since I came in" Doctor Jenkins replied taking the piece of paper back from Lindsay.

"Oh, I thought he was going to stay with Danny"

"If I see him I'll tell him you're looking for him" the doctor said making his way to the door "I'll come back in a couple of hours to check on Danny"

"Thank you" Lindsay replied watching the doctor leave, She then turned back to the chair and lifted Lucy up, sitting down she placed the little girl on her lap and took hold of Danny's hand "Hey baby, the doctor said you might have woken up, I'm sorry I wasn't here to see it, but I am now and I promise you I won't be going anywhere"

"I'm here too Daddy" Lucy added, putting her hand over Lindsay's

"Our little family all together" Lindsay smiled "The four of us"

"Four?" Flack asked walking through the door.

Lindsay looked up "Where have you been?"

"Four?" he asked again.

"Yes you heard four, I'm pregnant" She replied sharply "Now where have you been?"

"I went to the loo and to grab a pen" he replied holding up the pen in his hand.

Lindsay noticed writing on the back of his hand as he held up the pen "What's that?"

"What's what?" he put his hand back down, knowing what she was referring too

"That on the back of your hand" She slid Lucy off her lap and into the chair and stood up, she walked over to Flack and picked up his hand "This" she snapped pointing to the writing.

"It's nothing" he told trying to pull his hand away.

"Oh so" she looked at the writing "Phoebe is nothing? I'm guessing with the phone number written here as well Flack that she is something"

"Okay okay, look I'm sorry, We just got chatting" he said finally pulling his hand away.

"Well while you were chatting, my husband woke up but no one was here to see it"

"Shit, really?" Flack asked sheepishly, running his hand over the back of his neck

"Yes really" She replied going over to sit on the couch.

Lucy slid of the chair and ran over to Lindsay who picked her back up and sat her on her lap.

"Lindsay I'm so sorry" Flack said coming to sit next to her on the couch.

"It's fine Flack, forget it. I don't want to argue with you, especially not here with Danny and Lucy around" she pulled Lucy into a cuddle holding her head against her chest.

"It's not fine though Lindsay, you trusted me to stay here with him and I didn't"

"Please Flack, let's just drop it"

Flack nodded "I'm sorry though"

"It's okay" Lindsay kissed the top of Lucy's head "Flack, I don't suppose you fancy a sleepover tonight?"

Flack looked up at her with a confused expression.

"I need to stay here, I can't leave Danny again, I was going to ask Jo to have Lucy but she has requested a sleep over with her Uncle Flack"

Flack looked at the three year old sitting in Lindsay's lap, her blue eyes shining and a look on her face he just couldn't say no to. "Yeah, I don't see that being a problem"

"Yay" Lucy replied. "Can I paint your nails?"

Flack grimaced "I guess so"

"That'll be fun" Lindsay smirked.


	21. Chapter 21

**Here's another Holding on for you to enjoy and don't worry even though he isn't in this chapter I haven't forgotten about Flack and his pretty nails ;) Thank you all for your lovely reviews! :D**

The sun was just coming up as Mac drove into the hospital car park, he knew it was too early for him to be visiting but he hoped with a flash of his badge that the hospital staff would let him in to visit Danny and Lindsay. He was only arriving this early as he had a worried phone call the night before from Flack explaining how Danny had opened his eyes and as no one had been there Lindsay now refused to leave Danny's side. Mac knew that Lindsay would need breaks at some point and how she would also need to spend time with Lucy so he had come down to speak to her hoping to talk some sense into her before he had to head into work.

He parked his car and made his way up to Danny's room. He was right, a quick flash of his badge had worked. He slowly pushed open the door and smiled at the sight of Lindsay curled up on the couch, a member of staff must have come and laid a blanket over her at some point in the night and she was using Danny's hoodie as a cushion for her head. Mac decided not to disturb her, she obviously needed the sleep.

He took a seat in the chair next to Danny's bed and held the younger man's hand. "Hey Danny" he said in a low voice "It's me, Mac. I hear from Flack that you've woken up, that's good progress. I know what it's like in your position, I remember when I was shot and lying in the hospital bed was the hardest thing, you know why? Because I could hear you all, I don't remember everything you all said to me but I remember all your voices and at the time even though it was hard to hear and not answer, it was still a huge comfort to know you were all there for me, spurring me on to get better. I'm hoping that this is what we are now doing for you.

Danny you are like the son I never had and I know I've not always felt like that. Back when you started with me everyone told me not to take you on as you were a risk, a loose cannon but I went against them, went with my gut, do you remember? Back at the beginning with had our ups and downs with the Minhas shooting, John Hawkins the human statue and everything that happened with Louie and Aiden. But I came to realise Danny you were a good cop and better than that you were a great friend. You showed that not only when I got shot but also the time that Flack got hurt and when Lindsay had to go back to Montana when you flew all that way just to support her.

I love that over the past 15 years or so I've been able to watch you grow, you started out as that loose cannon who wouldn't even think about love and now look at you, you've settled down, you've turned into a brilliant cop and CSI, you even took the sergeants exam and if it wasn't for those rookies and what they did to you then I truly believe you would still be a sergeant and doing a great job of it as well. You've also found love, got married and had a child.

I'm so glad you and Lindsay came together, I like to think I had a part to play in that. When Aiden left us I had to find someone to take her place, I looked through hundreds of application forms Danny but I knew whoever I picked had to work with you so it had to be someone who would balance you out, someone who would stand up to you, tell you when you shouldn't be doing something and that's when I came across a certain Lindsay Monroe" Mac looked up and smiled at his young female CSI who was still sleeping soundly. "She had gone through a lot, I knew that by reading through her application form but I thought it would help the both of you out, she seemed a strong character, well she had to be to have gone what she went through with her friends and come out the other side, but then again I could see she still needed a little help to come out of her shell which I knew you would do. You've got that way about you, you get people talking, interacting with you and soon they completely forget they've only known you five minutes. I think Lucy gets a lot of that from you.

Little Lucy, she is truly the most wonderful thing you have ever achieved Danny. She is definitely something you and Lindsay should be very proud of. She's polite, kind, caring and just so loveable. I still can't believe how well she coped with the Shane Casey incident, I know she was only tiny at the time but it didn't really affect her like we thought it might, she never suffered from nightmares or anything like that. She is a tough little cookie like her Mother.

Lindsay is something special to Danny, don't you ever let her go, the way she is coping right now with everything is so amazing. It reminds me how she was a few years back when you got shot at the bar. She had a new born and she still managed to visit you every day In the hospital and even when you got out of hospital she still was able to juggle the two of you. You are very lucky to have found her Danny."

"I'm the lucky one"

Mac looked up at the sound of Lindsay's voice "Hey, how long have you been awake for?"

"Only a couple of seconds" she replied smiling sleepily. She rubbed her eyes "has he done anything?"

"No, not while I've been here he hasn't"

"Oh, well hopefully he will soon" she said as she sat up.

"I'm sure he will" Mac replied standing up and coming over to join her on the couch "I've spoke to Flack this morning he said to tell you Lucy was a little angel last night"

"I'm pleased to hear that"

"I also spoke to Stella and she said she would pick Lucy up from Pre-school today then watch her tonight at yours if you wanted her too"

Lindsay nodded "Yeah that would be great, I'll ring her in a bit and thank her"

"You can't stay here permanently though Lindsay" Mac told her with a serious look on his face.

"I'm not... well I... I just don't want him to wake up and be alone" she sighed.

"He won't, they'll always be one of us in the room, I can promise you that"

"I know, but even then people don't tell me, look at the first time he mumbled, I had to hear that from a doctor"

Mac gasped "Oh Lindsay, that was me In the room then"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know, it all happened so fast and you were at home with Lucy and I think I got called into work and I just never got the chance. I'm truly sorry"

"It's okay, I just don't want to miss anything else"

"You won't, I promise if anything happens while you're not in the room then I'll get whoever is in here to write it down so they can't forget to tell you"

"I guess that could work, I'm just scared"

"It's okay to be scared Lindsay" Mac told her. "Look, I just need to pop to the toilet but I'll be back okay and then maybe you can pop down there and freshen yourself up"

"That would be great, thank you" she smiled watching him leave. She stood up and made her way over to the chair, sitting down she once again took Danny's hand. "Hey babe" she kissed the back of his hand "We are so lucky to have a boss like Mac aren't we? He is so understanding. I'm glad we choose him as Lucy's godfather" She laughed to herself "Sorry you probably don't want to hear me talking about Mac" she leant over and planted a kiss to his lips "I've missed kissing you, I couldn't before with that tube you had in your mouth. Although it's still weird now not feeling you kiss me back" she sat back down and squeezed his hand "I love you"

"Tana" Danny murmured.


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you all so much for my lovely reviews, can we make it to 100 with this chapter? Enjoy :)**

"Danny?" Lindsay cupped his cheek with her hand and leant over him "Danny, it's me, It's Lindsay"

"Tana" he murmured again, his eyes opening slightly.

Tears started to roll down Lindsay's cheek "Yeah, It's Montana" she laughed though her tears.

"Love tana" he said before closing his eyes again.

"I love you too Danny" She watched him, waiting for a reply but one didn't come. She slowly sat back in the chair with her hand still holding his and cried tears of happiness.

Mac came back into the room "Lindsay, you can go and freshen..." he stopped when he saw Lindsay crying. "Lindsay, what's wrong?" he asked going over and kneeling in front of the chair.

"He woke up, Mac" she sniffed "He told me he loved me"

"Oh Lindsay, that is brilliant news, shall I go and tell one of the nurses?"

Lindsay nodded "Thank you"

"It's okay" Mac smiled heading back out of the room.

A few minutes later another head popped round the door "Can I come in?" Flack asked with a smile

Lindsay looked up, tears still rolling down her cheeks "Of course, Flack"

"I've just bumped into Mac, he told me what happened" Flack said sitting down in the other chair "It's fantastic news, Linds"

"I'm so happy Flack"

"I bet you are" he touched Danny's arm with his hand "You are well on your way to recovery Danno"

Lindsay let out a little giggle "I see she got her way"

"Hm?"

Lindsay nodded her head towards Flack's hand.

"Oh yes" he said looking down at his pink and orange nails "I forgot you needed nail varnish remover to get this stuff off"

Lindsay giggled again "I'll text Stella and see if when she picks Lucy up from school if she can drop a bottle of mine off here, I take it you're staying for the day?"

Flack nodded "I'd appreciate that"

"It's okay, How was Lucy going into school this morning?"

"Absolutely fine, She loved telling all her little friends and her teacher that Uncle Flack was bringing her to school. She even tried to get me to stay and help out"

"And you didn't?" Lindsay asked.

"No, I think the teacher thought I was a bit of an odd one because of these" he replied holding up his hand "She said I couldn't anyway because of my arm, health and safety and all that."

"Of course, I didn't think of that" Lindsay smiled, she squeezed Danny's hand "You've got a lot to thank Flack for when you wake up, he is taking all of the Lucy abuse that you normally get"

"She paints his nails?" Flack smirked

"Only his toe nails, he can then hide them in his shoes and socks" she smiled.

"Toe nails, Why didn't I think of that one?" Flack sighed.

Lindsay laughed "Least you know for next time"

"Who said they'll be a next time?"

"Flack, you obviously don't know my daughter very well, you've let her do it once, trust me it will happen again"

Flack looked down shaking his head which caused Lindsay to laugh.

Mac came back into the room "The nurse said she will inform Doctor Jenkins and he will come and speak to you on his rounds" he told Lindsay while standing at the end of the bed.

"Thanks, Mac" she replied.

"Now off you go and freshen up"

"Yes boss" Lindsay smiled giving Danny's hand one last squeeze before she exited the room.

"I'm not sure pink is your colour" Mac laughed as he took the seat that Lindsay had just vacated.

"Very funny" Don replied. "Lucy did it, we played beauty parlour"

"That's sweet you did that for her" Mac told the younger man.

"I'm just trying to be there for her you know? I'm not trying to take Danny's place, there is no way I could fill his boots as her father. She has him up on some very high pedestal, but why he can't be there for her I want to be, do the fun things with her, make her laugh and just show her that even though she and Lindsay are going through a rough time she still has a reason to smile"

"I think that is just what she needs Flack, you are a brilliant Uncle to her you know that right?"

"I try" Flack replied

"Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine" Mac smiled, he then checked his watch "I need to head to the lab and finish off a few reports from yesterday, will you stay here?"

Flack nodded "I don't plan to be anywhere else today"

"Good" Mac replied "She may be happy right now with what happened a few minutes ago but it'll soon hit her that he is still in that hospital bed and she'll need someone to lean on then"

"I'll be here for her Mac, Don't you worry about that" Flack smiled.

"Okay, well I'll be off, Tell Lindsay I said goodbye"

"I will, see you later" Flack watched Mac leave. Then turned to Danny "You did it Danno, you made your wife's day, probably even her year. Now you have to do the next step, wake up for a bit longer. Keep pushing yourself, You'll get there in the end" Flack looked up when he heard Lindsay come back in "Feel better?"

"Much, I feel all fresh now" She smiled sitting back down in her chair "Has he done anything else?"

"No, but I doubt he will today Linds, I'm guessing just that little bit of contact you had with him took a lot of effort and energy"

Lindsay nodded, taking Danny's hand back in hers. "I'm just so glad I got that little bit of contact with him"

"Who knows Linds, Maybe tomorrow you'll get more?"

"Maybe" she smiled, running her fingers through Danny's hair "We can hope"

"That we can" Flack replied. "by the way, does he know?"

"About what?"

"The bun in the oven"

Lindsay shook her head "I only found out the morning you all got taken hostage. I've told him while he has been unconscious but I'm not sure if he heard or not" she said sadly.

"Put his hand on your stomach, he might... I don't know feel something"

"Flack, I'm pretty sure I'm not that far gone, I doubt he will feel anything"

"You don't know how far gone you are?"

"When have I really had the chance to find out?"

"Why don't you go down now, see if you can book a scan?" Flack suggested.

"I can't go without Danny" She said squeezing Danny's hand again.

"Maybe it might help, get the scan and tell him the picture is waiting for him to see"

"I'm not sure" she played with Danny's fingers as she spoke, lacing hers through his "I guess I really should get everything checked out. I have been under a lot of stress recently"

"Exactly" Flack smiled "They probably won't fit you into today but if you're here anyway then there is no harm in asking"

"Okay" she stood up "I'll go and find out" she told him, Then she turned to Danny "I'm just going to book an appointment to make sure Mini Messer number two is okay, I won't be long" she placed a soft kiss to his lips and left the room.


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm hoping this chapter is okay, it seemed quite weak to me but let me know what you think? :) **

**I want to say a massive thank you to anyone who has taken time to review this story as we did it, we got to 100! So this chapter is dedicated to all you lovely reviewers out there! Enjoy!**

Lindsay made her way along the corridor heading towards the maternity ward. She had butterflies in her stomach, she was nervous. She approached the door and grabbed the handle but she couldn't bring her self to open the door and go in. Sighing she let go and went to sit on one of the nearby chairs.

This is wrong she told her self I shouldn't be doing this alone. She wrapped her arms over her stomach. She felt like history was repeating itself, this had happened when she was pregnant with Lucy she had to go to all of the appointments for the first 4 months alone, She didn't want that this time. Danny should be here this time getting to do all of this with her, getting to see his baby for the first time on the ultrasound, getting to hear the heart beat for the first time. If she went into the ward now and made the appointment he would miss it all again and she wasn't sure she could do that to him again.

Flack's voice floated around in her head, telling her that a scan might help Danny, might encourage him to wake up. She knew that he was right that it might help him but it still hurt her to go in alone. She sighed not knowing what to do for the best. If Danny had been there with Lucy and saw it all then she probably wouldn't have felt as bad going alone this time. She stood up, she knew even though she didn't want to do it, she had to, she needed to know that the baby inside of her was healthy and growing well. As she made her way over to the door she hoped that Danny wouldn't be to disappointed.

Stella sat at Lindsay's desk at the lab typing up a file on the computer when the phone rang "Hello Stella Bonasera speaking"

"_Oh, Sorry I think I may have the wrong number I was looking for Lindsay Messer, I tried her mobile but she never picked up"_

"You have the right number, I'm just covering for Lindsay right now, is there anything I can help you with?" Stella asked.

"_I'm not sure, you see I'm Alison Martin. I'm a teacher at Lucy's pre-school and we just needed to speak to Mrs Messer about coming to collect Lucy"_

"Is everything okay? I was meant to be picking Lucy up today as Lindsay is in the hospital with Lucy's father"

"_Yes I know he is poorly, I'm not sure how to explain this, basically we have a student coming to work with us and she got all the children to talk about their fathers and what they had done with them at the weekend which as you can imagine got Lucy very upset"_

"Why didn't anyone warn the student about this?" Stella asked

"_We don't like to discuss children's private matters with the students and we didn't know that this subject would come up while she was talking to them"_

"Okay, how is Lucy now?"

"_She has hidden herself away in the book corner and refuses to come out. I think it would be best if she was collected as she is rather upset"_

"That's fine, I'm on my way" Stella replied.

Stella made her way to the pre-school phoning Flack on her way to see if it was okay to bring Lucy back to the hospital for a little while, Flack explained that Lindsay had popped out and it would probably be better to bring Lucy in when Lindsay was here, Which Stella agreed and decided to take Lucy back to the lab til Flack phoned to tell her Lindsay was back.

Hawkes had decided to pop up to the crime lab as he wanted to speak to Mac about coming back part time. He wasn't doing himself any favours by sitting at home and playing the same scene of Danny on the floor covered in blood over and over again in his head. He hoped that being back at work might take his mind off of it. He approached Mac's office and tapped on the door.

Mac looked up and beckoned Hawkes to come in with his hand "It's nice to see you back here" he smiled as Hawkes took a seat.

"Yeah, I was wondering Mac, would I be able to come back for a few hours a week?"

"Do you think you're ready?" Mac asked

"Probably not, but I need to do something, Mac"

"What about just lab work for now?"

"I'll take anything" Hawkes replied.

"Well I'm thinking lab work will get you back into the swing of things slowly"

Hawkes nodded "That sounds good"

"So, do you fancy starting tomorrow for a few hours?"

"9am?"

"Perfect" Mac smiled. He looked up and noticed Stella exiting the elevator with Lucy in her arms. "One sec" he said to Hawkes standing up and heading to the door "Stella" he called getting her attention "Everything okay?"

"Not really, she got very emotional at pre-school today. She was still crying when I got there but she fell asleep in the car on the way home so I'm just going to lay her on the couch in the office while I finish my work" she said rubbing Lucy's back soothingly.

"That's fine" Mac smiled, he turned around when he felt a presence behind him.

"Is that Lucy?" Hawkes asked.

"Yeah" Stella replied.

"How is she? I haven't seen her since everything happened"

"She's coping Hawkes, in her own three year old way"

Hawkes nodded and watched Stella carry a sleeping Lucy down to Danny and Lindsay's office.

Flack looked up when he heard the door open, he expected it to be Lindsay but was surprised to see it was Jo. "Hey" he smiled

"Hey yourself, how is he doing?" she smiled sitting down in the chair.

"He's getting there slowly, one day at a time"

"That's a good though, Mac mentioned something about him waking up?" she asked looking at Danny on the bed.

"Yeah he did" Flack smiled "Told Linds that he loved her"

"Oh my, well isn't that the sweetest thing"

"Yeah, it truly made her day"

"Where is Lindsay anyway?" Jo asked.

"Oh er..." Flack panicked not knowing if Jo knew about the baby or not "She's just popped to the shop"

"Well hopefully she'll be back soon" Jo smiled.

Lindsay had come to the maternity ward at the right time, they had just had a cancellation so were able to fit her in for a scan straight away, so she was currently laid on the bed waiting for the sonographer to arrive. She could feel the tears already filling her eyes as she lay there alone. She looked up when the door opened and a middle aged woman came in.

"Hey, It's Lindsay right?" She asked, to which Lindsay nodded "Good, I'm Mary, I'll be performing your scan today. Do you know how far along you are?"

Lindsay shook her head "I haven't had chance to find out yet"

"That's fine I can tell you today" Mary smiled as she squirted the gel on to Lindsay's stomach. "Is this your first?"

"No my second" Lindsay replied giving Mary a weak smile "We've got a three year old called Lucy"

"Three is such a lovely age" Mary replied "Is she with her Daddy at the moment?"

"No" Lindsay replied holding back the tears "No, she's at school right now"

"So I'm guessing Dad is working?" Mary asked not realising where Danny actually was.

"No, he is up in ICU right now, he had a bit of an accident at work a few days ago" Lindsay replied wiping her eyes.

"Oh my love, I'm so sorry. That'll teach me to pry" Mary said grabbing a few tissues from the box and handing them to Lindsay.

"It's fine" Lindsay replied wiping her eyes.

"Right, lets see if we can see this baby" Mary placed the scanner on Lindsay's stomach. She moved it around and using the machine she took a few measurements "So from what I'm seeing here it seems you are about 12 weeks along"

"3 months already" Lindsay asked surprised as she watched the screen.

"Yeah that's what it's looking like, would you like to hear the heartbeat?"

Lindsay nodded "Yes please"

Mary went and grabbed a doppler from the side and placed it against Lindsay's stomach, the room filled up with the faint sound of a heart beat.


	24. Chapter 24

**Here is another chapter, I keep telling myself I won't update daily and then I write a chapter and get so excited I have to post it! I'm sure you lot don't have a problem with that though :P**

**anyway enjoy :)**

Lindsay made her way back to Danny's room clutching the scan picture in her hands. She couldn't stop looking at it. Mary hadn't been able to tell yet what sex the baby was but Lindsay didn't mind as long as they were healthy that's all that mattered to her. She couldn't wait for her husband to wake up and see the picture. Mary had also let her record the heart beat on her phone which she had decided she would play to Danny. Not straight away though she wanted to wait till they were alone before she did.

She approached Danny's door and heard voices talking inside, she recognised them as Jo's and Flack's. Not wanting to tell everyone about the baby yet she slid the scan picture into the pocket of her hoodie. Lindsay had decided that she would wait for Danny to wake up so they could at least tell everyone together like they had with Lucy.

She pushed open the door and smiled at Jo.

"Did they not have the magazine at the shops?" Flack asked as she made her way over to sit on the arm rest of his chair.

Lindsay looked confused for a second then realised that was where he had told Jo she was "Oh no, they didn't"

"Isn't that the most annoying thing?" Jo sighed "I went to the shop the other week to get Ellie a top she desperately wanted but they never had it in her size"

"It is" Lindsay replied "I've had the same problem with a pair of Minnie Mouse sneakers that I want for Lucy"

"How are you doing anyway?" Jo asked

"I'm taking one day at a time" Lindsay replied.

"That's all you can do, isn't it?"

Lindsay nodded "at least I know he is making improvements now"

"Oh Linds" Flack interrupted "I was meant to let you know, Stella phoned she said she had to collect Lucy from pre-school. I said you would ring her back when it was okay to bring her down here"

"Why did she have to collect her?"

"I'm not sure" he shrugged.

"Okay, I better give her a call, I'll be back in a minute" she said standing up and going back out into the corridor, pulling her phone from her pocket she rang Stella's number.

"_Bonasera" _Stella answered cheerfully.

"Hey Stella, it's me, Flack's just told me you had to collect Lucy from school is she okay?"

"_Hey Linds, She's fine now. She got a bit upset when they started talking about there Dads. The staff couldn't calm her down so I went and collected her and brought her back to the lab"_

"Oh bless her, Can I speak to her?"

"_She's asleep at the moment but once she wakes I'm planning to bring her down to see you, is that okay?"_

"That's fine, when she does wake up tell her I love her very much and can't wait to see her"

"_I will do" _Stella smiled _"I'll see you soon"_

Lindsay ended the call and sat in one of the chairs in the corridor. She felt like phoning the school to complain, they knew what was going on with Danny at the moment so why hadn't they been more careful what was said around Lucy. She was also annoyed with herself that she had missed the call to come and pick Lucy up. She hoped that the three-year-old had been okay with Stella picking her up.

She stood back up and went back into Danny's room "Everything okay?" Jo asked from her new position on the couch.

Lindsay went over and sat in the chair that Jo had vacated "It is now, Just staff at Lucy's pre-school being incompetent" she sighed.

"Oh no, what happened?" Jo asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm not entirely sure but Stella said they ended up discussing there Dads which made Lucy upset and they couldn't calm her down"

"Oh lord, do these people not think?" Jo asked.

"I'm not sure right now if it was just the children discussing it or if they were discussing it with a teacher" Lindsay told her.

"Poor Lucy, that's all she needed" Jo sighed.

"She ended up crying herself to sleep. She hasn't done that since she was a baby and now she's ended up doing it twice in the past couple of days"

"She's going through a difficult situation Linds" Flack added.

"Yeah I know she is but it still hurts to see her so upset"

"It will Lindsay. I've been there many times before with Ellie, It breaks your heart doesn't it?"

Lindsay nodded "It really does and right now I don't even know how to make things better for her"

"Just be there for her as much as you can" Jo smiled

"And don't send her to that stupid school" Flack added.

Lindsay laughed "She needs to go to school, although I'm thinking I might keep her off the rest of the week"

"Well if you need anyone to watch her, you know where I am" Jo smiled

"And me" Flack added "Although this won't be happening again" he laughed holding up his hands.

"Oh but they look so beautiful, Don" Jo smirked.

"They are horrid" Flack replied looking back down at his nails

"Don't let Lucy hear you say that, Flack, she'll be heart-broken" Lindsay warned him.

"I told her I thought they were amazing"

"I'm just going to pop to the little ladies room" Jo said making her way out of the room.

"How did it go?" Flack asked Lindsay once Jo had left.

"It was fine, I had a scan done straight away, look" she said pulling the scan out of her pocket and carrying it over to show him.

"Oh, look like Danny already" Flack laughed "How far along are you?"

"12 weeks" She smiled.

"Did you find out what you were having?"

"No it's too early to find out at the moment, I should find out at the next scan though" she said taking the picture and slipping it back into her hoodie "Only you and Stella know at the moment, Flack" she told him making her way back into her chair "I don't want anyone else to know till Danny is here to tell them with me"

"I won't tell anyone I promise" he replied.

"Thank you" she smiled.

"Is Lucy coming down then?" he asked changing the subject so Jo didn't walk back in on them talking about the baby.

"Yeah Stella is bringing her down in a bit"

"I hope she remembers the nail varnish remover"

"I'm sure she will" Lindsay laughed.

Later that evening after Lucy and Stella had been down and everyone had left to go home for the night Lindsay sat with Danny alone in his room "Hey babe, it's me. I met our baby today and I recorded they're heart beat for you?" she slid her phone from her pocket "Would you like to hear it?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Just a quick A/N before this chapter. I just want to apologise now in case any of my spelling/punctuation is wrong. I suffer from an illness (I didn't want to have to admit this on here but feel now like I have too) anyway it affects my concentration a lot. So while I do re-read over my stories and try to get everything as perfect as it should be there are some bits that I do miss so again I'm sorry.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

Danny was cold and he couldn't work out why, he felt a shiver go through his body. He preferred the cold though to the pain, the constant pain that was ripping through his body like fire. He tried to open his eyes but they wouldn't open. He was scared, it wasn't often he would admit to being scared but he was right now. He felt trapped in a cold, dark, painful place.

He heard a voice that he recognised, he had heard a lot of voices the past couple of days but there had only been a couple of occasions that he was able to put a name or a face to the voice the rest had all been mumbles and he knew he should have known who they were but he didn't. This voice was sweet though and they had called him 'babe' he only knew of one person to call him that. His Lindsay. Oh how he wanted to hold her, she would save him from this scary place, he knew she would.

He felt her hold his hand, her soft warm hand in his, she squeezed his hand and with a lot of effort he managed to squeeze her hand back. "Do it again" he heard her say, he tried to do it again but he couldn't, he wasn't strong enough to do it for a second time.

He could smell something wafting up his nose, a clean smell. Where am I? He thought, tell me, Lindsay, tell me where I am. He turned his attention back to her, hoping she would, but she didn't, she was talking about Lucy, his precious Lucy and how she'd got upset at school. Why was Lucy upset? He wanted to take her in his arms and put a stop to whatever was upsetting her. "She just wants her Daddy back, Danny" But I'm here Lindsay, I'm right here.

Danny thought, he needed to try to think what the last thing he remembered was. Flack, he remembered Flack lying on the floor. Had he made it? He tried to remember if he had heard Flack's voice or not but he couldn't. He hoped that Flack was still alive. He remembered a gunshot, it was loud, close and Hawkes. Hawkes was holding the gun. None of this information told him where he was though.

What if I'm dead? What if Lindsay's dead too? Is that why Lucy is crying he thought. Did they both die. He hoped not, he couldn't bear the thought of Lucy being alone in the world. Who would Raise her? His parents were too old now to raise a 3-year-old and it wouldn't be fair to send Lucy to Montana away from everything she knew. Mac, Mac would raise her, he was sure of it. He would provide a loving home for her and bring her up right.

He tried to open his eyes again but they still wouldn't open, he didn't like the fact his body wasn't cooperating with him. He turned his attention back to Lindsay "The doctors said you're making fast progress, Danny" Doctors, he wasn't dead he was in hospital. Making progress from what though? He needed to remember why he was in hospital.

He thought back to the gunshot, he was in the room with Hawkes when he had shot the gun, there was someone else there with them, Flack? No it couldn't be Flack, Flack was on the floor. He couldn't remember who it was. Pain, he remembered feeling pain and a lot of it, more than he was feeling now. There was also blood, lots of blood then nothing until now. Had he been shot? Had Hawkes shot him?

No, he must have imagined it, Hawkes couldn't have shot him, he doesn't even carry a gun. They were friends weren't they? Danny's head was swarming with new memories and information. He decided to stop thinking and turn his attention back to Lindsay, he would try to hold it there this time, not let himself get distracted.

"I need you, Danny, I've tried to be strong in front of the others. You know what I'm like for showing weakness. I can only show that in front of you. I know you're getting better and making progress but it's still hard on me, it's hard to see you like this, to see Lucy so upset. I've not spent one night with her since this all happened." she gave his hand another squeeze and he could feel her run her fingers down his cheek. "I think I'm going to have to though Danny, she's struggling and I know you are too, but she's only a baby."

Go Danny thought go and spend time with our little girl, if I can't be there, then she should have her Mummy. He knew what Lindsay was like though, she had spent every day with him in hospital when he had been shot just after Lucy was born.

He couldn't believe he had been shot for a second time. He knew he could no longer do this to Lindsay or Lucy. He had to leave the department, find somewhere safer to work, somewhere where his wife wouldn't be wondering if he would be coming home every night.

The pain started to fill his head again, it had stopped while he had been thinking and listening to Lindsay but now he had stopped it was back, everywhere. He just wanted it to go away. Surely he should be given some sort of pain medication for this? But maybe the pain was what he deserved. What was it Hawkes had told him years ago, that pain was the payment for each precious thing in his life? Is that what he was having to do now?

He focused back on Lindsay, she helped to take the pain away. "Met our baby today.." baby? What baby? Could she be pregnant? He would love it if she was, he loved Lucy and another baby would just be amazing but he couldn't bear the thought of her going through all of it on her own again. "..you like to hear it?" Hear what? Why hadn't he been listening.

Another sound began to fill the room, a faint sound, he listened harder. Boom boom, boom boom. Was that a heartbeat? He listened again. Yes it was definitely a heartbeat. "That's our baby's heartbeat Danny, I really wanted you to hear it" she sniffed. Was she crying? No, he hoped she wasn't crying. He needed to know. He gathered all his energy and used it to open his eyes. The room was blurry and bright, so very bright. He looked around not being able to focus on anything. A face hovered over him. A beautiful face that he recognised instantly with its button nose and those amazing chocolate-brown eyes that he could get lost in "Danny?"

He needed to reply, he had to say something but his mouth was so dry. He was scared if he tried to talk nothing would come out. She needed to know he was okay though, that he could hear her so he said the first word that came to his mind "Baby".


	26. Chapter 26

**Another chapter for all you lovely people :) I've managed to update all three of my stories today so I'm quite proud of myself :D anyway enjoy :)**

"Baby"

Lindsay smiled at her husband "Yes Danny, we are going to have another baby"

"Boy?" he crocked then began to cough.

"I don't know yet" She told him as she filled a cup up using the jug of water that was on the side, placing a straw in it she helped Danny take a couple of sips

"That's better" he replied licking his lips.

"It's so good to hear your voice again Danny" she said placing the cup back on the side.

With a shaking hand Danny reached up and touched Lindsay's cheek. "Missed you"

"I've missed you to babe, So has Lucy" she told him placing her hand over his one that was still against her cheek.

"Lucy"

"Yeah, Lucy's okay, She's with Stella at the moment but she's been to visit you a couple of times. She's been drawing you pictures"

He gave her a small smile and then asked "Stella?"

"Yeah you invited her over before all this happened, do you remember?"

Danny shook his head, wincing as he did so

"Are you in pain?" Lindsay asked worriedly.

"Little" he lied, not wanting her to know that the pain he was feeling was like a fire burning through his body.

"I'll go and get a doctor Danny, hopefully they can up your morphine or something" she began to walk away but Danny grabbed her hand.

"Stay"

"But you need something for the pain Danny"

"Need you" he replied.

Lindsay blushed and sat on the edge of Danny's bed.

"Cuddle"

Lindsay smiled, laying down on the bed next to him she rested her head on his chest "I've wanted to cuddle you for days, I've missed being close to you"

Danny wrapped his arm around her, loving the feeling of her back in his arms. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Lindsay drawing patterns on his chest with her finger and Danny planting the occasional kiss on the top of her head. Neither of them having to say anything, they both knew how the other felt.

"Tired" Danny mumbled after a while.

"Go back to sleep then baby" Lindsay replied, tilting her head back to look at him.

"Don't go" he held his arm tighter around her.

"I'm not going anywhere" she replied, leaning up and planting a small kiss on his lips.

"Good" he mumbled before closing his eyes and slowly drifting back off to sleep.

Lindsay stayed where she was in Danny's arms and closed her eyes, succumbing to sleep herself.

The next morning Adam made his way along the hospital corridor heading towards Danny's room he had the day off from the lab as he had worked a lot of over time recently. Mac had called in a favour from New Jersey crime lab and got some CSI's from there to help take some of the pressure from his remaining team members.

Adam reached Danny's door and knocked gently, there was no reply, so he tried again, still nothing. Maybe Lindsay had gone to the toilet he thought as he pushed open the door. Stopping he saw Lindsay and Danny curled up on the bed together asleep. He didn't want to disturb them knowing that Lindsay hadn't had much sleep recently, so he decided to sit in the chair in the corridor knowing that Flack or Stella would probably be along shortly.

He was right, 15 minutes later Flack made his way down the corridor with Lucy walking next to him holding his good hand. "Uncle Adam" the three-year-old smiled letting go of Flack's hand and running over to him.

"Hey Luce" he replied picking her up and sitting her on his lap. "I thought you spent the night with Auntie Stella?"

"Oh she did" Flack replied sitting in the chair next to Adam "But Mac wanted Stella's help with something this morning so she dropped Lucy off with me an hour ago"

"Oh ok" Adam replied "Have you had fun with Uncle Flack?" he asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded "He wouldn't let me paint his nails again though"

"Aww why not?" Adam asked.

"Do you know how long it takes to get that stuff off? especially one-handed" Flack replied "Why are we sat out here?"

"Oh, I didn't want to disturb them two of them" Adam told him.

"Disturb them? I hope you're not saying what I think your saying" Flack replied giving Adam a cheeky wink.

It took Adam a while to twig on to what Flack thought he meant "Oh no. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be doing that in the state he's in at the moment" he looked to see if Lucy had been listening to what they were saying, she hadn't she was busy playing with the bracelets on Adam's wrist "They're both asleep" he told the detective.

"Yeah, you're right to leave them, Linds needs all the sleep she can get at the moment, what with..." he stopped realising he had nearly said too much "Danny getting better, she'll need to be looking after him at home soon with this one" he smiled tickling Lucy's armpit.

Lucy giggled "Stop it, Uncle Flack"

Flack smiled and stopped tickling her "Hungry Luce?"

"A little bit, I only had a small bowl of cereals this morning cos Auntie Stella was in a rush"

"Shall we all go down to the café and grab some breakfast?" Flack asked.

"That sounds good" Adam replied lifting Lucy off his lap and standing up. Lucy held both of her Uncles' hands and then the three of them made their way down to the café.

"I hope they have nana sandwiches" Lucy said as they made their way into the elevator.

"Nana? That's what I call my Nana too" Adam told Lucy proudly.

"Adam, I think she mean's banana, there not gonna be stocking her grandma's sandwiches in a hospital café are they?" Flack laughed.

"Oh yeah" Adam blushed "That makes more sense"

"Silly Uncle Adam" Lucy giggled.

"Yeah, silly Uncle Adam, isn't clever like smart Uncle Flack, is he Luce?" Flack asked the three-year-old.

Lucy looked up at Flack, then at Adam, then back to Flack. "Uncle Adam did fix Mummy's computer when you and Daddy couldn't"

Adam let out a little laugh at Lucy's comment "She got you there"

"Well least I knew what 'nana' was" Flack replied as they made their way out of the elevator and headed towards the café.


	27. Chapter 27

**here's another holding on chapter for you all to enjoy :) Let me know what you think :)**

Flack made his way back up to Danny's room after breakfast. He had left Adam to take Lucy to the toilet, knowing Lucy a little better than Adam did he knew the dance she was doing meant she needed a little more than a wee, so he quite happily suggested Adam took her to the toilet as he wasn't keen on cleaning up a dirty bum just after eating breakfast.

He pushed open Danny's door to find Lindsay sat in the chair talking to Danny's doctor "Sorry" he whispered "I'll come back later"

"No Flack" Lindsay replied "Come in, you'll want to hear this"

Flack made his way into the room and stood behind Lindsay's chair, "What do I want to hear Doc?" he asked Danny's doctor.

"We'll I was just talking to Mrs Messer and she told me how Danny woke up last night. They had a conversation for about 10 minutes which is very good progress in my book." Dr Jenkins replied

"That's excellent" Flack smiled "So what's gonna be happening with Danno now?" he asked looking down at his friend who was still asleep on the bed.

"Well we are going to see how he goes, but if his progress carries on how it is, I can see him being moved down to a general ward before the end of the week"

"So he won't be at risk of getting any worse if he's on a normal ward?" Flack asked.

"No, he should make a full recovery now, we think he may suffer from a bit of memory loss due to everything that's happened but that shouldn't be permanent"

"That's brilliant news" Flack grinned.

"What about his bullet wound?" Lindsay asked "Is it healing ok?"

"Yes, from what we've seen it seems to be healing well, Mr Mess... Sorry Danny will have to have another scan before he leaves to just double-check everything is healing as it should but I don't see there being any problems with it" the doctor smiled.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done" Lindsay said gratefully.

"It's been my pleasure" He replied "I need to go and see my next patient now but if there is any problems or you've got any questions contact one of the nurses and they'll get hold of me and if not I'll see you tomorrow on my ward round"

"Okay" Lindsay smiled "See you tomorrow"

Flack waited until the doctor had left and then turned to Lindsay "He spoke to you?"

She nodded "Yeah, I played him the baby's heart beat and he woke up Flack, he was only saying one or two words at a time but he spoke to me"

"What did he say?"

"Not much, asked about Lucy and I told him she was with Stella but he didn't remember that he had asked Stella to visit. He seemed to be in a lot of pain too but wouldn't let me get him any pain medication, he just wanted cuddles"

"That sounds like Danny" Flack smiled "Would rather have a cuddle that drugs pumped into him"

"Where's Lucy?" Lindsay asked realising her daughter wasn't there "Stella text and said she had dropped her with you this morning"

"She's gone to the toilet with Adam, They'll be back soon" he replied.

"Okay, just making sure you hadn't left her anywhere"

"Like I would Linds"

"I know you wouldn't" she smiled. "Do you know what else Danny said when I told him about the baby?"

"No, what?"

"He just said 'boy'" she smiled.

Flack laughed "I guess some things never change, you know you're going to have to keep popping babies out till he gets his son"

"I have a feeling that this one might be a boy anyway" she told him rubbing her hand over her stomach.

Just then there was a knock at the door "Come in" Lindsay called.

Adam came in carrying Lucy in his arms "Mummy" Lucy squealed wiggling out of Adam's arms and running over to her mother.

"Hey baby" Lindsay smiled scooping Lucy up and sitting her on her lap.

Adam glared at Flack as he made his way round to the other chair "Thanks for that"

"You're more than welcome" Flack smirked.

"Thanks for what?" Lindsay asked confused.

"I did a poo" Lucy giggled

"Flack, you let poor Adam clean her up?" Lindsay asked turning to face the detective.

Flack pointed to his arm which was still in a sling "I wouldn't have been able to, would I?"

"Okay, I'll let you off that one" she then turned to Adam and apologised.

"It's fine" he replied "I just wasn't expecting to have to do that this morning"

"Is Daddy getting better?" Lucy asked changing the subject

"He is Lucy, The doctor says he is doing really well" Lindsay smiled

"Can I have a cuddle"

"Of course" Lindsay lifted Lucy up and placed her on the bed next to Danny where she cuddled up to his side. Danny lifted his arm in his sleep and gently rested it over Lucy.

"He's cuddling me back" Lucy said excitedly.

"He is baby" Lindsay smiled. She reached into her pocket and pulled her phone out to take a picture of Danny and Lucy cuddled up on the bed. "I'll send this to his Mum, let her know he is making progress"

"When's she coming home?" Adam asked.

"Not for a while yet I don't think" she replied "But both his parents know that he is in good hands"

"Yeah, they know you'll keep him safe Linds, I swear his parents think you are some sort of angel sent from heaven" Flack told her.

Lindsay laughed "What?"

"Well they never thought he would ever settle down and have children but you managed to make that happen, You are definitely something special to them as you've given them the grandchild they never thought they would get"

Lindsay blushed "They've never told me that before"

"Well it's true" Flack smiled "Me and Maria are close, she tells me lots of stuff"

Lindsay just laughed imagining Flack and Danny's mum sat round a table drinking tea, eating cakes and gossiping.

The three adults settled into a comfortable silence. They all sat and watched as Lucy leant up and kissed Danny's cheek "Love you Daddy"

"Love Lucy" Danny murmured back, his eyes slowly flickering open.


	28. Chapter 28

**Here is another chapter :) I hope it all makes sense, I struggled to write Danny speaking with just using a few words each time! Anyway enjoy and let me know what you think :)**

Lucy looked up at Danny wide-eyed "You're awake?"

"Yeah" he murmured.

"Good, cos I missed you, Mummy, I missed Daddy, didn't I?"

"You did Sweetie" Lindsay smiled "We've all missed you Danny"

"All?" he asked confused.

"Me and Adam are here too" Flack grinned giving Danny a wave.

"Flack, you're okay?"

"Yep, it takes a lot more than a bullet to take down the Flackster" he laughed.

"Arm?" Danny asked looking towards Flack's arm which was still in a sling.

"It's nothing bad Danno, Just a little graze from the bullet, doctors reckon it should heal nicely if I just keep it rested"

"Good" Danny smiled.

"Daddy, is your tummy feeling okay now?" Lucy asked.

"A bit" he replied slowly lifting his arm up and running his finger down the side of her face. She snuggled up to him and he wrapped his arm around her.

"We were all so worried about you" Adam told him.

"Sorry"

"No, don't apologise it wasn't your fault, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess if anyones to blame then it would be Edward because he did lead the three of you into that factory, or I guess you could even blame Hawkes, but I wouldn't because he was just trying to get the three of you out of there so really he was..."

"Hawkes?" Danny asked interrupting Adam.

"Yeah, he was in the factory with you and Flack" Lindsay told him.

"Shot me?" Danny asked.

"Yeah baby he did" Lindsay replied. She leant over to check on Lucy and saw that the little girl had drifted off to sleep, which she was thankful for as Lucy didn't need to hear this conversation.

"But Danny it was an accident" Adam added.

"It was a stupid move" Flack snapped.

"No, it wasn't, he was trying to get you all out of there Flack" Adam said with confidence.

"I still think he should have waited, I'm sure Mac would have got us all out of there"

"Would that have been before or after your arm had lost too much blood?" Adam asked

"Enough you two" Lindsay told them "Danny doesn't need to hear the two of you bickering like an old married couple"

"Sorry" both men mumbled.

Danny smiled "don't worry" he coughed a few times and Lindsay grabbed him a cup of water with a straw which he sipped slowly "Mac?" he asked.

"Mac's at work, want me to call him, let him know you're awake?" Adam asked.

"Please" Danny replied.

"Okay, I'll just do that" Adam pulled his phone from his pocket and left the room to call Mac.

"I hear you're gonna be a Daddy again" Flack grinned at his best friend.

"Yeah" Danny smiled

"Well I call dibs on God Father this time, alright?"

"Okay" Danny said letting out a little laugh and then wincing in pain he held his side.

"I'm gonna ask one of the lovely nurses to give you something for the pain" Flack told him.

"No, no drugs"

"Danny, let Flack just go and ask okay? you need something. I hate seeing you in pain" Lindsay said taking his hand.

"Wanna stay awake" he replied.

"I'll ask them if they can give you something that won't make you drowsy" Flack said as he left the room.

"Do you want me to move Lucy to the couch?" Lindsay asked.

"No" he replied.

"Well if she makes it to uncomfortable for you just let me know"

"Okay" Danny replied looking down at his little girl.

"What are you thinking?" Lindsay asked.

"Girl" he smiled.

"Yeah, Lucy's a girl" she laughed.

"No, baby, girl"

"Oh, the baby in my stomach?"

Danny nodded.

"You now want it to be a girl?"

"Wouldn't mind" he replied.

Lindsay smiled "We'll I'll let you into a little secret, I think this one" she rubbed her stomach "May be a boy"

Danny smiled "Danny Junior"

"No" Lindsay laughed "We are not calling him Danny Junior"

"Linds" Danny said seriously.

"Yeah babe?"

"Where's Hawkes?" he asked changing the subject

"I don't know Danny, I haven't really seen him properly since all this happened"

"Why?"

"Because he shot you Danny, he put you in this coma. I was scared he had taken my whole world away from me" she held his hand tighter.

"I'm still here"

"I know, but back then I wasn't sure what was going to happen to you"

"Forgive him?"

"I don't know if I'm ready to yet, Danny" she replied honestly.

Danny was just about to say something else when Flack came back into the room "Not interrupting anything am I?" he asked going to sit in Adam's vacated seat.

"No" Lindsay smiled "What did the nurse say?"

"She said she will get in contact with Doctor Jenkins and see what he can suggest" he replied "I saw Adam on the way back too, he's just popping to the toilet but he said Mac will be in after his shift"

"Good" Danny replied "With Jo?"

"Oh I don't know, Adam never mentioned Jo but I'm sure if she hears you're awake she'll be down with flowers and grapes" Flack grinned.

"Hope so, hungry" Danny replied.

"I'm not sure what you can eat yet Danny" Lindsay replied "I'll ask the doctor when he comes in"

"Okay"

"So what were you guys talking about while I was gone or do I not want to know?" Flack asked winking at Danny.

"Flack" Lindsay exclaimed "Take your dirty mind out of the gutter"

Flack laughed "Sorry Linds"

"We were talking about the baby" she replied.

"And Hawkes" Danny added.

"What for?" Flack asked.

"Want to see him" Danny told the pair, he let out another cough then added "Want to forgive him"


	29. Chapter 29

**Another chapter for all your lovely people :) Thank you so much for all my fantastic reviews, they mean so much to me! I'm not overly happy with this chapter, I think it get's across what I wanted it to though, so enjoy :)**

"He wants to see me?" Hawkes asked surprised.

"Yes, that's what Flack said when he phoned up earlier" Stella replied.

"But why?"

"He wants to forgive you, Sheldon"

Hawkes started to pace around Danny and Lindsay's office. He had been waiting for this, waiting for the forgiveness from his friend, In his mind he knew that it was what he needed to try to get over what had happened, that's what his counsellor had told him too, that forgiveness was the key to happiness, or something like that. He hoped she was right, he hoped that after talking to Danny he would be able to be happy again. His mind started to wonder though, what if Flack had been lying? What if Danny didn't want to forgive him at all and this was just their way of getting him to the hospital so Danny could tell him what he really thought.

No, Hawkes he told him self, you're being stupid. Flack wouldn't lie, of course Danny would want to forgive you. Neither of them were a malicious people. He realised if he went down now everyone would be there. He knew Flack was already there, He was certain Lindsay would be there as well and he knew Jo and Mac had left about an hour ago to visit Danny. He didn't want to have a conversation with Danny in front of all of them.

"I'll pop down to see him tomorrow" he told Stella.

"No, I'm gonna drive you down now" Stella replied.

"But everyone's there Stell, I'm not going to have this conversation with an audience. I'm embarrassed enough by what happened I don't need to make it any worse"

"I know that and that's why I spoke to Flack, asked him to make sure the room was clear for when we got down there at 5pm"

Hawkes looked at his watch "That's in half hour"

"It is, so we better get a move on"

"But what about Lindsay? She's not going to want me there"

"I'm not going to lie to you Hawkes, Flack said she wasn't pleased about Danny wanting to see you, thought it was to soon, but it's what Danny wants so she's happy for you to see him as it was his request"

Hawkes nodded and made his way to the locker room. Stella was right, it was probably best to do this now and get it out the way. It was going to be awkward seeing Danny properly for the first time since it happened. He grabbed his jacket and back from his locker. He put them both on then made his way up to the elevators to wait for Stella.

"Ready?" she asked as she approached the elevators

"as I'll ever be" he replied.

Flack smiled as he sat in the chair eating the grapes that Jo had brought for Danny. He watched all his friends talking to Danny. Lindsay was still sat in the opposite chair, Jo and Mac were sat together on the couch, Adam was stood at the end of the bed and Lucy was still curled up asleep next to her father.

"Full house in here, isn't it?" Adam laughed.

"Popular" Danny murmured

"You are" Lindsay told him "Everyone is so pleased you're awake"

"We'll have you back to work in no time now" Mac smiled.

"Mac Taylor, no we will not" Jo exclaimed "He needs his rest. You take off as much time as you need Danny"

"I was joking Jo" Mac replied "I wouldn't rush anyone back into work after being shot. I know what it's like myself to be in Danny's position and you just can't come back to work until you're ready"

"How was I supposed to know you were joking Mac? You never make jokes" Jo replied.

"She's right there Mac" Flack laughed

"Daddy" Lucy mumbled from where she lay on the bed.

"Hey Luce" Danny smiled watching his little girl wake up.

She did a little stretch and sat up, looking around the room confused.

"You're in Daddy's hospital room Luce" Lindsay reminded her.

"Oh yeah" she smiled rubbing her eyes "I'm hungry"

"Danny, do you mind if I take her to get something to eat?" Lindsay asked "I can then ask the nurse on the way back if you're allowed anything"

"Go feed her" Danny replied.

"I think I may come as well" Adam said "I'm feeling a little hungry myself"

"Okay" Lindsay replied as she picked Lucy up from the bed and leant down to give Danny a kiss "We won't be long"

"Okay" Danny smiled as he watched the three of them leave the room.

"Hows the pain now Danny?" Flack asked eating another grape.

"Sore" he replied

"Well I'm sure the doctor will be in soon to give you something"

"Have they not given you anything?" Mac asked concerned.

"They have" Flack answered for Danny "But it's making him drowsy and he wants to stay awake to spend to with Lindsay, Lucy and everyone so I've asked if they can give him something that'll make him less drowsy"

"I'm sure they'll find something they can give you Danny" Jo smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sure I had some pain relief after I had been shot that was a non-drowsy one, can't remember the name for the life of me though" Mac replied.

"It doesn't matter, I'm sure the doctors will know of something" Flack smiled.

Jo looked down at her watch "Oh lord, I better make a move. Ellie will be home soon and she'll be wondering where I've got to"

"Do you need a lift?" Mac asked.

"If you wouldn't mind?"

"No of course not" he smiled standing up "I'll come back to see you tomorrow, Danny"

"Okay" Danny replied.

Jo and Mac put there coats on and made their way to the end of Danny's bed "Don't you let Don eat all them grapes" Jo told Danny.

"I won't" Danny smiled.

"I'm not eating them all" Flack replied as he placed another grape in his mouth.

Mac and Jo said there goodbyes and left the room.

"Just the two of us now, Danno" Flack replied.

"Yeah" Danny smiled. "Thank you"

"What for?" Flack asked.

"Lindsay"

"Lindsay? Your thanking me for your wife?"

"No, looking after"

"Oooh, that's okay Danny, it's only what you would have done for me"

Danny nodded "Means a lot" he looked up when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" Flack called.

Sheldon popped his head around the door "Hey, you wanted to see me Danny?"


	30. Chapter 30

**Right, I couldn't get this chapter right no matter how many times I tried, so this is the best I could do (And I feel it's still pretty weak :( ) I hope you all still like it though! Let me know what you think :)**

"I'm gonna go find Lindsay and Adam" Flack said standing up and making his way out of the room.

Danny and Hawkes watched him leave. Hawkes made his way over to Flack's now vacated seat "Danny, I'm so sorry"

"No, don't apologise" Danny replied

"I have to, I shot you"

"Accident"

Hawkes nodded "It was an accident, but it doesn't change anything Danny I still shot you, I still put you in a coma"

"It's okay"

"How can you say that? I don't get how you can be okay with all of this?"

"Done same"

"You'd of shot me?"

Danny shook his head "Edward"

"Oh Yes, that's who I was trying to shoot, I was trying to protect us all, get us out of there"

"I know"

"I just don't know how it all went so wrong, one minute it was just me and him alone then you appeared from nowhere and I had already.."

"Hawkes" Danny interrupted.

"No, I need to say this Danny, I need to get it out"

Danny nodded.

"You were there Danny, I'd already pulled the gun before I'd seen you and there you were laid on the floor, bleeding. I tried to stop it Danny, I really did but there was just so much."

"Thank you"

"No don't thank me, I don't deserve your thank you's"

"You saved me"

"I shot you, I nearly killed you"

"Hawkes" Danny said loudly. "You saved me" he started to cough, reaching for his water. Hawkes passed it to him and he took a sip through the straw "And Flack" he continued after his drink.

Hawkes placed the cup back on the side. "Well I don't feel like a hero"

"You are" Danny smiled.

"Flack and Lindsay don't seem to think so"

"Speak to them"

"I've tried Danny, I've really tried but they aren't interested" Hawkes sighed "Me and Flack nearly had a fight"

Danny smiled "that's funny"

"I'm glad you think so" Hawkes replied with a small smile.

"I'll speak"

"You'll speak to them for me?"

Danny nodded.

Flack had now joined the other three in the café, Lucy was colouring in a picture with Adam while Lindsay was drinking her cup of coffee "What do you think they are saying?" she asked Flack.

"I don't know" he replied playing with a packet of sugar that was on the table.

"How can Danny sit there and forgive him for what he did, yet I can't?"

"I know Lindsay, I feel the same"

"Do you think we should?" she asked.

"Forgive him?"

Lindsay nodded as she took a sip of her coffee. "I mean, I know what he did was awful and he should have thought about his actions, but we all make mistakes right? And Danny didn't die"

"I know what you mean, but I just think Mac would have been in soon enough, he could of just waited, disarmed Edward and waited for back up. He's not even trained to use a gun"

"Flack I kinda think we are being a little irrational, if Danny can forgive him then I think maybe we should too"

"Mummy" Lucy called from here she sat with Adam "I drawed you a picture"

"You did?" Lindsay asked.

"Yep, look it's me, you and Daddy" she said passing the picture over to Lindsay.

"Wow Luce, I love it"

"Can we go stick it on Daddy's wall?"

Lindsay nodded and stood up, turning to Flack she said "Just think about what I said yeah?"

Flack nodded "I will do. I've got to see a doctor about my arm, make sure it's healing okay, then I'll be back up to Danny's room"

"Okay" Lindsay replied as she took hold of Lucy's hand "You coming back up Adam?"

"Yeah okay" Adam replied, Lucy grabbed his hand and together the three of them made their way back up to Danny's room.

"I hope Daddy likes my picture" Lucy said as they walked along the corridor.

"I'm sure he will Luce" Lindsay smiled.

"I worked real hard on it, didn't I Uncle Adam?" She asked looking up at Adam.

"You did Lucy" he told her.

"I think it's the bestest picture I've ever drawed" Lucy smiled proudly.

Lindsay looked at the picture that was in her other hand, she noticed that Lucy had got all their hair and eye colour right, she'd even coloured tops and trousers on to each figure, when normally she would just draw stick figures for bodies. On the tallest figure Lindsay noticed a funny mark on the blue t-shirt "Did you do the wrong colour by accident?" Lindsay asked Lucy, pointing out the mark.

"No Mummy, that's Daddy's boo boo" Lucy smiled.

"Oh, Of course it is" Lindsay replied. "You've remembered everything for this picture, didn't you?"

"Well Uncle Adam told me some bits cos I forgotted yours and Daddy's favourite colour"

"That's okay" Lindsay smiled "I like that you've done our shirts in are favourite colours"

They soon approached Danny's room as Hawkes was leaving. "Hey" Adam mumbled nervously to the former M.E. He wanted to be polite but he also didn't want to upset anyone. "How is Danny?"

"He's okay" Hawkes replied "We've had a good chat, but he got tired so I've left him to sleep"

Adam nodded. "I'm glad you sorted things out"

Lindsay picked Lucy up "You hear that Luce, Daddy's sleeping so we need to be quiet"

"Okay" Lucy whispered placing her finger to her lips.

"I hope you don't mind me being her Lindsay" Hawkes said to her.

"It's what Danny wanted" she replied.

Hawkes nodded.

"Look, Hawkes, I'm sorry for how I've been, but the past few days have been very difficult for me" she told him awkwardly.

"No I understand that" he replied "Look I need to head back to the lab, but thank you for letting me see Danny"

"It's okay" Lindsay replied. She watched Hawkes walk down the corridor then together with Adam and Lucy she entered Danny's room.


	31. Chapter 31

**Another chapter :) Let me know what you think :)**

Lindsay placed Lucy on the couch "Stay here while I put your picture up" she told the three-year old. Carrying Lucy's picture over to Danny's bed she stuck it up using the blue tack the nurses had provided, next to the first picture that Lucy had drawn when she first found out Danny was in hospital.

"That was good of you" Adam said as he sat on the couch next to Lucy who climbed up on to his lap and snuggled up to him.

"What? Sticking Lucy's picture up?" Lindsay asked.

"No... no apologising to Hawkes"

Lindsay nodded as she turned the chair next to Danny's bed to face the couch and sat on it.

"I mean you didn't have to apologise, but you did and I think that's great"

"Well Danny was right, I should forgive him. What he did was just what any of us would have done in that situation, it's what we are told to do, just because Hawkes isn't trained to use a gun doesn't mean he shouldn't of done the same thing"

"Exactly, he was just trying to save them all, get them all out of there"

"I just saw it as he had shot Danny and I kind of panicked and blamed him. I probably would still be blaming him if Danny had died" Lindsay admitted.

"But he didn't die"

"I know, So I need to forgive Hawkes"

"Do you think Flack will?"

"I hope so"

Lucy tapped Adam's chest with her fingers to get his attention " Uncle Adam, can we do more drawing?"

He looked down at her "You want to?"

Lucy nodded "I think Daddy needs some more pictures to make his room pretty, cos it's a bit boring"

"Okay" he smiled.

Lindsay made her way over to the side where her bag was and pulled out a few sheets of paper and some crayons "here you go" she smiled passing it over to Adam.

Lucy slid of off Adam's lap and sat on the floor "Let's draw here" she told him as she lay on her stomach.

"Okay" Adam replied joining her on the floor. "What shall we draw?"

"I don't know" Lucy thought for a moment "Can you draw Daddy a teddy bear?"

"I'm sure I can do that" Adam smiled picking up the brown crayon.

Lindsay turned her chair back round so she was now facing Danny, taking hold of his hand she gave it a squeeze "You were right, I hope you heard that because I'm not repeating them words again" she laughed. "I need to forgive Hawkes and I will Danny, I promise." she leaned up and kissed her husband's forehead "If you can forgive him then I'm sure I can" Lindsay looked up when the door opened.

"Hey" Stella smiled popping her head round the door.

"Hey Stell" Lindsay replied going over to give her friend a hug.

"I was going to come up earlier when I dropped Hawkes off, but I was so hungry that I popped back to yours for some food first"

"That's okay" Lindsay replied as she went to sit back in her seat.

"Auntie Stella" Lucy squealed. Jumping up she ran over to Stella, wrapping her little arms around Stella's legs.

"Hey Luce" Stella laughed leaning down to pick the little girl up "What are you up to?"

"Me and Uncle Adam are drawing Daddy pictures to make his room pretty"

"You are? That's so lovely" Stella planted a kiss on the little girls cheek "You'll have to let me see all your pictures once you're done"

"I will" Lucy told her.

"You go and finish them then" Stella placed Lucy back on the floor and watched her run over to Adam. She then went and sat on the other chair. "How did it go with Hawkes?" she asked Lindsay.

"According to Hawkes it went well, I haven't had a chance to speak to Danny as he fell asleep as soon as Hawkes left"

"I guess the whole conversation tired him out"

Lindsay nodded "I've chosen to forgive Hawkes"

"You have? That's brilliant, Linds"

Lindsay smiled "Well if Danny can then I don't see why I can't"

"Auntie Stella, I finished my first picture" Lucy grinned coming over to show Stella the piece of paper.

Stella looked down to see different coloured blobs on the paper with green lines coming from the bottom of them "Did you draw flowers?" She asked.

"No" Lucy replied "They're lollipops"

"Oh yeah" Stella smiled "That would have been my second guess"

"Can you stick it up please, Mummy?" Lucy asked coming round the bed and handing the picture to Lindsay.

Flack had left the café, checking his watch he saw he was a little early for his appointment so decided to pop to the toilet first.

Coming out of the toilet he began to walk along the corridor to his appointment, looking up he spotted Hawkes walking towards him. What's he still doing here? He thought to himself. I guess I better be polite and talk to him, for Danny's sake. "Hey" he mumbled as he approached Hawkes.

"Hey" Hawkes replied awkwardly "How are you?"

"Not bad, you?"

"I'm okay, just finished speaking to Danny, he's forgiven me"

Flack nodded "Well, I'm pleased. But don't expect any forgiveness from me, I still believe what you did was wrong"

"I know" Hawkes replied looking down at the ground.

Flack looked at his watch again "I need to go"

"Okay" Hawkes replied. He watched as Flack made his way down the corridor. He hoped that Danny would be able to make Flack forgive him, he hated all the awkwardness and tension of being around Flack right now and he knew that if Flack didn't forgive him then they would never all be able to go out as a group again as it would just be too difficult. He sighed and made his way towards the exit of the hospital.


	32. Chapter 32

**Another chapter, I don't think this chapter is very good personally, but I'll see what you all think of it :) Enjoy :)**

Flack was now at home, his appointment had gone well, he'd finally got rid of the sling and now just had a bandage wrapped around the wound. He was sat at his kitchen table, he hadn't gone back to Danny's room after his appointment. He'd wanted to but he didn't fancy another lecture from Lindsay on why he should forgive Hawkes and he knew he'd also get one from Danny too. Flack didn't need them telling him what he should and shouldn't do, he was a 36-year-old man who was capable of making his own decisions. He took a swig from the beer bottle that was in front of him. He wasn't meant to drink with the painkillers he was on for his arm, but one drink wouldn't hurt, right?

He knew that if he'd been in Hawkes's position with a man holding a gun to him about to shoot, he'd of done exactly the same thing. So why couldn't he forgive Hawkes for doing the right thing? Because Hawkes wasn't trained, that's why. Hawkes had shot and injured his best friend. Flack shook his head, he needed to stop thinking about it, it wasn't good to keep playing the same thoughts over and over in your head, he knew that. It's what he had done when Jess had died and look where that had got him.

Standing up, Flack placed the half drunk bottle of beer on the side and made his way to his bedroom, he needed sleep, not just a cat nap like he'd been having ever since the day in the factory. He needed a good full 8 hours sleep in his own bed and hopefully he'd wake up feeling better. He pulled off his jeans and shirt, chucking them in the wash basket he then climbed into bed, putting his phone on silent he placed it on his bed side table. He snuggled down into to his bed, pulling the duvet up around his ears and he soon drifted off to sleep.

Danny's eyes fluttered open, the room was dark "Linds?"

"Hm? Danny?" Lindsay replied from where she had been drifting off on the couch.

"Dark"

Lindsay stood up and switched the lamp on by the side of Danny's bed "Better?" she asked as she sat in the chair.

Danny nodded "Where Lucy?"

"She went home with Stella and Adam, they were going to take her out for dinner and then Stella was taking her back to ours"

"Nice"

"Yeah, she was really looking forward to going out to dinner with them, I think she may of even convinced Stella to let her go home first so she could change into a pretty dress"

Danny let out a little laugh "So girly"

"Yeah, she is" Lindsay smiled taking Danny's hand "How are you feeling now?"

"Bit better" he replied.

"That's good, you'll be back in work before you know it"

"No"

"No?"

"Not going"

"What do you mean you're not going?"

"I can't"

"Danny you're confusing me" Lindsay told him giving his hand a squeeze.

Danny sighed "think we move"

"We should move?"

Danny nodded.

"Where too? Don't you like our house?"

"Tana"

"You want to move to Montana?"

Danny nodded again "Safer"

Lindsay looked up into his blue eyes, she knew he meant what he was saying, he really wanted them to move to Montana. She could see his point to, it would be safer for them all. Safer for Lucy, she'd be able to run around on her parents farm with out them worrying that she'd get run over or snatched. Safer for her and Danny as well, they could get jobs in the Montana crime lab, it was easier there, there was less crazy gun wielding people in Montana. Although there would always be one, one crazy gun wielding person from Montana that would stay in Lindsay head forever. "This is a big decision Danny"

"Been thinking" he replied.

"You have?" Lindsay smiled, loving the though that Danny again had thought about their future.

"You work and I..." he took a few deep breaths before carrying on "Look after Luce and baby"

Lindsay grinned at him proudly, that was the biggest sentence he had accomplished since waking up. She leaned over and kissed his forehead "You wouldn't want to work?"

He shook his head.

"You didn't have to go back to being a CSI, Danny, you could do something else"

"Children"

"You wanna work with children?" Lindsay asked shocked.

Danny laughed "No, my children"

"Oooh, you want to look after them at home, be a stay at home Dad"

Danny nodded.

"What about when they are both at school, what would you do then?"

Danny shrugged he hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Wouldn't you miss New York?"

"Can Visit"

" I'd miss all our friends so we would have to" she smiled "but I can see your point, Montana would be a better place to raise the children and if we were there I wouldn't have to worry about you not coming home everyday. So if you really want to move to Montana then I'm totally with you"

"You are?"

Lindsay nodded "But only on one condition"

"What?"

"You have to tell Mac"

Danny laughed "okay" he tapped the bed beside him "Cuddle?"

"I'd love one" Lindsay smiled climbing up on to the bed next to him and resting her head on his chest. "When should we move?"

"Soon"

"I agree, we should go before Lucy starts school"

"When I'm out"

"Out of hospital?"

Danny nodded.

"That's very soon Danny, Maybe let's wait until you've recovered a bit? Gives me time to phone my old boss in Montana, see if there are any jobs available and It'll also give me time to work my notice here."

"Okay" Danny replied kissing the top of Lindsay's head.


	33. Chapter 33

**Here is another chapter for you all :) I've got another story in the pipe line so I want to get this one finished before I start posting the new one. Enjoy :)**

It had been a few days since Flack had been back to the hospital, he knew he should have gone back, that he'd promised to look after Lindsay and Lucy but he still just couldn't face the lectures. He was still struggling in his head to forgive Hawkes for what he had done. He knew though he couldn't avoid Danny and Lindsay forever so today was going to be the day he went back to see them. He'd received lots of texts over the past few days from the couple asking where he was and if he was okay? He replied, of course he did, he wasn't rude.

Flack got out of the bath, he would normally have taken a shower but the doctor said it wasn't advisable as he wasn't meant to get his bandage or wound wet. Wrapping a towel around his waist he padded back to his bedroom. Looking though his wardrobe he decided on a white t-shirt, a blue jumper and a pair of dark jeans. Pulling the towel off from around his waist he used it dry the rest of his body and then got dressed.

After getting dressed, Flack made is way to the kitchen where he managed to eat just half a slice of toast. He was nervous about seeing Danny again and he wasn't sure why. Yes they'd had a bit of a disagreement but they'd had loads of them in the past. Maybe it was just because he hadn't seen him in a few days? He was so used to seeing Danny on a daily basis at work.

Work, Flack missed work. He'd spoken to his boss a couple of days ago and they had decided he couldn't even go back to desk work till his arm had healed as he wasn't able to write, Flack had known that would be the case though. Flack sighed, there was nothing else to be done now apart from head to the hospital to see Danny. Putting on his shoes and grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch, he left his apartment to make the twenty-minute trip to the hospital.

Back at the hospital Danny was now sat up in his bed, he'd come on a long way in the four days since Flack had last visited, he was now talking a lot better and was now itching to get out of bed and start walking around. The nurses said that as soon as they had got him an appointment with the physiotherapist, he'd be up and walking before he knew it.

Danny and Lindsay had told everyone the day before that they were expecting baby number two, they'd wanted to tell everyone together but Flack had stopped visiting and seeing as he already knew they decided to just tell the others. They couldn't wait much longer anyway as Lucy was getting excited for everyone to know and Danny and Lindsay were worried she would blurt it out in conversation. Everyone had been so excited for them, they sat for hours discussing baby names, themes for the baby's nursery and talking to Lucy about her big sister role.

Now though there were only three of them in Danny's hospital room, Danny, Lindsay and Mac. Danny and Lindsay had decided it was time to tell Mac their decision to move away to Montana. The couple had already discussed to with Lucy, who didn't quite get what was happening but seemed to be excited to get to see her Grandma and Grandpa and play with all the animals on their farm.

Mac sat on the chair watching the couple who were sat on the bed, he smiled as they were sat like they had been just after Lucy had been born, only this time Danny was on the bed and Lindsay was on the edge of it. They both looked nervous. "Is everything okay?"

"Mac, Lindsay and I have done some thinking" Danny replied looking down at his and Lindsay's entwined fingers.

"Go on" Mac told him.

Danny rubbed his other hand with his face "We wanna move, Mac"

"Move?"

Danny nodded "To Montana"

"Don't be mad at us, Mac" Lindsay quickly added.

"Mad? I'm not mad, Lindsay. I'm a little... upset, but I'm not mad at you"

"We just think it's for the best, Mac" Lindsay told him, looking him in the eyes. "I can't keep wondering if Danny is going to be coming home every night, this incident came far to close to me loosing him and we can't risk that any more, especially as we'll now have two children. There is them as well Mac, we want to raise them somewhere safe, somewhere they can have a back garden to run around in, Somewhere they can grow up and we don't have to worry so much about paedophiles and murderers."

Mac nodded "I understand Lindsay, New York isn't the best place in the world to raise a child"

"We will still visit though Mac, Lucy wouldn't let us not. She will miss all her Uncles and Aunts, just like we will" Danny told the older man who had become like a Father to him over the years.

Mac smiled "We'll miss you all too, but it's what you need to do and I'm pleased for you both"

"Thanks Mac" Lindsay smiled leaning forward to give him a hug.

"When we're you thinking of moving?" he asked.

"Well, we want to wait until Danny is recovered enough from all of this and is able to fly and I plan to work out my notice, Mac" Lindsay replied.

"Have you got a job already in Montana?"

"I phoned my old boss a few days ago, he said that he was just about to advertise for a CSI position, so if I wanted it the job was mine"

Mac nodded "So when does he want you to start?"

"Well I've explained to him everything that's going on here and he was very understanding. Told me I could start at the end of next month and considering its only the beginning of August that gives us about eight weeks" Lindsay replied taking hold of Danny's hand again.

"Well look Lindsay, take this month off as holiday, I'm sure you have a lot owed to you. Be with Danny, help him through his recovery, spend time with your friends and start to pack up your house and then next month depending on how things are you can either work the full four weeks notice or you can just do two"

"Are you sure, Mac, I don't want to leave you short-staffed or anything"

"Lindsay, it's fine. I know Adam wants to be a full CSI so we can start to train him up over the next couple of months and eventually he can fill yours or Danny's position and I've always got a drawer full of CV's on my desk. I'm sure I'll find someone else, although whoever I find will never be as good as you and Danny" he told them causing the couple to blush "I want you two to know, that there will always be a job for the both of you at the New York crime lab"

"Thank you, Mac" Lindsay and Danny replied together.

"Don't mention it. I just hope you two will have a wonderful and happy life in Montana, just remember as I told Stella when she moved to New Orleans, don't forget to stay in contact"

Danny laughed "We'll phone you every night, Mac"

The door flew open and Flack stormed in "You're moving to Montana?"


	34. Chapter 34

**Another chapter for all you lovely people! Enjoy :)**

"You're moving to Montana?"

Lindsay looked up "Flack..."

"Are you really just gonna up and leave?"

Lindsay and Danny nodded at the same time.

"When?"

"Soon, Flack, in about two months" Danny replied.

Flack sat on the empty chair and rested his head in his hands. He couldn't belive his two best friends were planning to move halfway across the country. "Who else knows?"

"Just you and Mac" Lindsay told him

"Oh, well least I'm not the last to find out, I guess that's something"

Mac stood up "I'll leave you three to it" he sad awkwardly "I need to get back to the lab"

"Okay, thanks for visiting and being so understanding" Lindsay came over and gave him another hug.

"Thanks Mac" Danny gave his boss a little wave.

Mac said his goodbyes and left the hospital room.

"I still can't believe you're moving" Flack sighed.

"Flack, we need to" Lindsay said coming over to sit on the arm rest of Flack's chair "It's the right thing for us to do"

"No Linds, staying here in New York is the right thing to do. You can't take a city boy out of the city, Danny won't survive in Montana"

"It was my idea" Danny murmured

"What? You're idea?"

Danny nodded "I don't want to go back to work"

"Why? You love you job, you're a brilliant CSI, you both are"

Danny smiled "I just think it's time to give someone else the chance to be the best CSI in New York"

Flack gave him a small smile "See, you didn't lose that ego of yours in the shooting"

"Flack, you know we will never lose contact with you. You are my best friend and always will be."

Flack nodded.

"And you'll have to visit us aswell, especially as your god child will want to know who you are" Lindsay smiled rubbing her little bump.

"God child?"

"Yeah, we want you to be this ones god father, Flack. We discussed if after you joked about it last week and we think it's a good idea" Lindsay told him placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you think?" Danny asked

"I think... I think it's a brilliant idea" Flack smiled then his face suddenly dropped "What about Luce? Does she know?"

Lindsay nodded "She knows we will be moving to live near my Mum and Dad, I don't think she quite understands that she won't be able to see you guys or Danny's parents regularly any more"

"Children adapt fast though, right?" Flack asked.

"Yeah, they do" Danny told him.

"God, I'm gonna miss you three so much" Flack replied.

"We are gonna miss you too. Who will we have to give us are daily dose of sarcastic comments?" Lindsay laughed.

Flack shrugged and let out a little laugh "that's something you two are gonna have to work out yourself"

"Flack" Lindsay started "I'm sorry about my little lecture I gave you the other day, whatever you decide to do with Hawkes should be your choice."

Flack nodded "It's alright, is that why you're moving? Because of Hawkes?"

"No, not because of Hawkes" Danny replied.

"Why then?"

"We just... we need to move on Flack. New York is great and it's be a fantastic home for us for the past 7 or so years but it's just not the right place for us to raise our children and to work. The children and I need more stability, we need to to know that Danny is going to be coming home every night, that this" she pointed to Danny who was trying to fight sleep on the bed "Doesn't happen again"

"It won't Linds, it won't happen again."

"How can you say that Flack?"

"I'll protect him, look out for him when we are on raids, drug busts or anything like that"

"You know as well as I do, that as much as we would like that to be possible, it's not" Lindsay looked over to Danny who had now fallen back to sleep. "He just wants what every Father wants, to see his children grow up, get married and have children of their own"

"Yeah, there's not been that many times though has there, I mean times that you've nearly lost him"

"There's been enough. There was the time at the light house with Shane Casey, the shoot out at the bar when I thought he'd never walk again, then there was the time when I went to Montana when I was pregnant with Lucy and he chased the suspect with no vest on..."

"That was his doing though, Lindsay"

"It doesn't matter Flack, there has just been to many times. Oh there was also the drug raid with the Irish mobster. You must remember that with him and Adam. You know the night before that was the first time we got together and while I was standing there outside the warehouse with you all I could think was it could of been the last"

"It would never have been your last"

Lindsay shrugged "I didn't know that back then"

"Them mobsters were very very clever, I'm glad we took them down and everyone got out relatively uninjured"

"Yeah, so am I, I just wish I'd been more helpful"

Flack's mind had wandered off, back to the time six years ago with the drug raid in the warehouse. He'd just shot the Irish mobster and he was stood over the body. He didn't remember seeing Hawkes approach but he looked up and he was stood there. Flack remembered him saying the exact words he needed to hear at the time.

"_Hey, he was gonna kill you, you did what you had to"_

You did what you had to do... Damn it. Flack ran his hand though his hair and stood up "I need to go"

"Go? Where?" Lindsay asked standing up aswell "Are you okay?"

Flack nodded "I just... I need to make something right" he said before making his way out of Danny's room.


	35. Chapter 35

**Another chapter done and dusted :) let me know what you think :)**

Flack walked up the stairs to Hawkes's apartment. He was nervous, he knew now how wrong he had treated the former ME, Hawkes had to shoot Edward or Edward would have killed him. Flack felt so stupid, this is what everyone had tried to tell him all along and he had ignored them thinking that he knew better. He couldn't believe that it had taken Lindsay to trigger his memory of that awful day in the warehouse for him to finally see sense. Flack just hoped he hadn't left it to late and Hawkes would still accept his apology, better late than never, right?

Flack ran his hands through his hair as he tried to find 3G, Hawkes's apartment. He'd been here before but it had been a while, if they were all going to hang out together now round some ones place it tended to be Danny and Lindsay's house as it was bigger and it also meant that they then didn't have to find a sitter for Lucy.

He approached the door, knocking it he waited for Hawkes to answer. Listening he could hear the TV on inside, someone was definitely in. Flack knocked again, louder. This time he heard shuffling and then the door opened. "Hey" Flack smiled awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Hawkes asked "I know I've upset you but you don't need to come to my place to give me a lecture on what I should or shouldn't have done"

"I'm not here to give you a lecture"

"Well, what are you here for?"

Flack scratched the back of his neck nervously "I'm here to apologise"

"Apologise?"

"Yeah, look I've done some thinking and with Lindsay's help I know now I've been wrong to blame you all this time"

Hawkes opened his door a little wider "You better come in then"

Flack shuffled into Hawkes's apartment, looking around it was just how he remembered it. The walls were beige and covered in all Hawke's certificates. There was a big oak book shelf stood up against one of the walls filled with different coloured books. The television was showing some show that Flack assumed was about plants with the amount of them that kept appearing on the screen. "Shall I sit?" Flack asked pointing to the grey couch that sat in the middle of the room.

Hawkes nodded as he shut the door. He made his way to the kitchen and pulled out two beers before coming to join Flack on the couch, passing him one of the cans.

"You know I'm not meant to be drinking this with the tablets I'm on?" Flack asked opening the can.

"I'm sure one can won't hurt and anyway I'm a doctor if you do end up keeling over or something I'm sure I can save you"

Flack smiled and took a swig from his can. "I'm sorry for the way I've treated you the past week or so"

"It's okay, I probably deserved it" Hawkes replied "I did shoot your best friend"

"No, you didn't deserve it" Flack replied "And thanks to Lindsay I can see that now"

"Lindsay?"

"Yeah she made me remember something you said to me a while back"

"What was that?" Hawkes asked before taking a swig of his drink.

"You remember the drug raid in the warehouse?"

"The one with the irish mobsters that held Danny and Adam hostage?"

"Yeah that's the one, anyway after I'd shot one of the mobsters, you came over to me"

"Yeah, I remember but I don't remember what I said"

"I do, you said that he was going to kill me and I did what I had to do. Which is the same with you, Edward was going to kill you, he held a gun up to you the same as the mobster did to me. You had to shoot him Hawkes, just like I had too"

Hawkes nodded.

"I feel like such a hypocrite, there is me shooting some guy for holding a gun up to my face and yet I tell you, who was in the exact same situation that it was the wrong thing to do"

"You didn't shoot a colleague though, Flack"

"No, no I didn't but that doesn't matter does it? I mean it does but Danny's getting better, he's doing really well"

"Yeah he is, I went in to see him yesterday with everyone and they told us all about the new baby"

"Yeah, he is so excited to be a Father again"

"And so he should be, he's a brilliant Father to Lucy"

"He is" Flack smiled "So are we okay?"

Hawkes nodded "We're good"

Stella was sat in Danny's hospital room with Danny, Lindsay and Lucy who was snuggled up on the bed with her Daddy. "You okay, Stella?" Lindsay asked noticing her friend wasn't being quite herself.

Stella sighed, she'd had a phone call from her lab that morning and now had to break the news to her two friends "I've got to go back to New Orleans earlier than planned"

"How early?" Lindsay asked.

"Tomorrow" Stella replied "A big case has come up and two of my guys are off with a sickness bug. So they need me back"

Lindsay came over and wrapped her arms around Stella "It's okay, I understand"

Stella hugged the younger woman back "I'm just annoyed because I promised I'd stay until Danny was better or at least out of hospital, which he won't be"

"Stella" Danny said from the bed "You've been so good to us while you've been here"

"I was just trying to make things a little easier for you" She smiled.

"And you have" Lindsay told her sitting back down "You've been so great with taking Lucy and looking after her for us and you've always been a great support for me as well"

Stella nodded "I wish I could stay and do more, I'm sorry"

"Please don't apologise" Lindsay said taking her hand "We are grateful for everything you've done and we understand that your lab now needs their big boss back. We should probably be the ones apologising to them for stealing you away" Lindsay laughed.

Stella smiled "I'm just going to miss you all so much"

"You know you are always welcome to visit us" Danny told her.

"Not here though, cos we're moving to Montana" Lucy added.

Lindsay laughed at the three-year old "Yes, you'll have to come to Montana. We are planning on visiting you soon as well Stell. After we've got settled in Montana and little one has arrived we will be over to see you"

"I will definitely come to Montana it'll be lovely to see where my best friend grew up" Stella smiled giving Lindsay's hand a squeeze "I'd also love for you to all visit me in New Orleans"

Lindsay gave Stella another hug. The four of them stayed chatting for another hour until Stella decided it was time to go back to the Messer's with Lucy and pack up her cases before her flight the next day.

**Just one more chapter left, the epilogue and then this story will be done :( I've got another story in the works though which will be up soon!**


	36. Epilogue

**Right, here it is the final chapter :) I've borrowed Joshua from my 'Moments' story for this one as I just can't imagine the Messer's calling there second child any other name now haha :) Thank you to everyone who has ever read and/or replied to this story, it mean a lot to me to know peope have enjoyed it :) **

**18 months later**

"Daddy, when are they getting here?" four-year old Lucy asked Danny who was putting up a banner on the front door.

"Soon, Luce" Danny replied "Pass me that blob of blue tack"

Lucy passed the blue tack to Danny "I'm just so excited to see them"

"I can see that" Danny laughed watching her bounce on the balls of her feet.

"Can I run down the drive and see if I can see them?"

"Let me stick this up and I'll come with you"

"Okay"

Danny stuck the banner on the front door, taking Lucy's hand he walked her to the end of the drive. "Can you see them?"

"No" Lucy replied "Where are they?"

"They'll be here soon, I promise. Shall we find Mummy and Joshua?"

"Okay" Lucy replied. She looked over her shoulder as they made their way back up the drive. She watched as a taxi pulled up just outside their house."Look, Daddy, look" she pulled on Danny's hand.

Danny turned around to see Flack and Adam get out of the taxi, the driver went to the trunk and pulled their luggage out, passing a case to each man.

"Uncle Flack, Uncle Adam" Lucy squealed letting go of Danny's hand and running down the path to meet them.

"Hey Luce" Flack smiled letting go of his case and kneeling down to catch Lucy in his arms.

"I've missed you" Lucy told him as he picked her up.

"I've missed you too, a crazy amount. I love all the pictures you keep sending me though"

"You did?"

"I did, they are all on my fridge and kitchen cabinets"

"Did you like yours Uncle Adam?"

"I did Lucy, I have a couple up in my locker at work" Adam told her.

Flack rested Lucy on his hip, grabbing his case both men walked up to greet Danny "Danno Danno, I haven't missed seeing your ugly mug on a daily basis" Flack laughed.

"Same here" Danny replied. "Although I'm so glad the two of you could make it"

"The others wanted too but we couldn't all get time off" Adam told him "But we've got gifts in our cases from them"

"It's okay, we understand" Danny replied "Mac only came up last month anyway and I think Hawkes and Sid are both planning a visit just after Christmas"

"So where is the little cutie?" Flack asked

"I'm here" Lindsay smiled approaching the group with Joshua on her hip.

"Ahh not you Monroe, this cutie" he replied putting Lucy down and taking Joshua from Lindsay's arms. "Hasn't he got big"

"Yeah he's a growing boy" Lindsay smiled. "Come on, let's get the two of you in and settled"

They all made their way inside and Lindsay showed the two men to their room. "I'm sorry you've got to share"

"It's alright" Flack replied passing Joshua back to Lindsay.

"We've got a bit of a full house right now"

"You've got another guest?" Adam asked.

"Yeah" Lindsay replied. "I need to go down stairs because guests will be arriving soon for Joshua's party, come down when your ready"

"Okay" Both men replied.

Lindsay carried Joshua back down stairs and went into the garden where Lucy was sat with their second guest Stella. "Did they know I was here?" she asked.

"They had no idea" Lindsay smiled "They'll be so excited when they realise"

"Especially as they phoned and asked if I was coming and I told them I couldn't make it"

"Ella" Joshua grinned reaching out for Stella.

"You want an Auntie Stella cuddle, Josh?" Lindsay asked passing the baby over to Stella.

"I can't believe he's one already" Stella said as she bounced him on her knee.

"I know, it's gone so fast"

"How are you finding life back in Montana?"

"It's so great to be back here, Lucy loves it, don't you?" She asked her daughter.

"Yep, I go to school here and I got lots and lots of friends"

"You do?"

"Yep, this many" Lucy replied holding out both her hands.

"Wow, ten is a lot" Stella smiled. "How's Danny getting on, Linds?"

"Great" she replied "When we first arrived he was a little unsettled. He's a born and bred city boy so it was always going to be difficult for him but I think he really loves it up here now"

"I never thought I'd see him leave New York, it really shows how much he has grown up over the years"

"It really does" Lindsay smiled proudly "I just don't think he could face putting his life on the line any more"

"Which is understandable, especially when he has you and these two little angels now"

"Exactly, He did the cop thing for over ten years, he did his part, he put a lot of criminals away in that time and now he just wants to watch his children grow up and be there for them"

Stella nodded as Joshua tapped his hand against her lips.

"Stella Bonasera well I never" Flack exclaimed as he made his way into the garden with Adam just behind him "I thought you couldn't make it"

"I lied" Stella replied moving Joshua's hand away. "Thought I'd surprise you"

"Well you've certainly done that, it's great to see you"

"Yeah, it really is" Adam added.

"Let's get this barbecue started" Danny called as he carried a tray full of sausages over to the barbecue pit.

"You want some help?" Flack asked

"Yeah, if you don't mind, there is some burgers in side that need bringing out" Danny replied.

"Okay, I'll grab them" Flack made his way back inside to get the burgers.

Adam sat on a chair next to Lindsay, Lucy climbed up on to his lap and snuggled up to him. "I missed you" she told him.

"I missed you too Luce, but you've got me for a whole week now"

"Really? A whole week?"

"Yep, me and your Uncle Flack are staying for 7 days"

"We should have a sleep over, Uncle Adam. You can bring you duvet into my room and sleep on my floor" Lucy told him excitedly.

"Luce, Uncle Adam has a bed to sleep on" Lindsay told her.

"But I wanted a sleepover" Lucy pouted

"Well maybe if you're good, at the end of the week Daddy can take you camping like he did the other week with Uncle Adam and Uncle Flack if he wants to go, you can have a sleep over in a tent then?" Lindsay suggested.

"Can Auntie Stella come too?"

"If she wants too" Lindsay replied

"Do you Auntie Stella? Do you want to come Camping?"

Stella looked a little uncomfortable at the question, camping in a muddy field wasn't really her idea of fun but she didn't want to let Lucy down "I'm not sure, Luce. Maybe me and you can have a girly sleepover in my room sometime during the week?"

" I'll get two sleepovers" Lucy grinned.

"You will" Lindsay smiled.

Lucy turned her attention back to Adam "Camping will be fun, won't it?"

"Yeah, I guess" Adam replied "I've never done camping before so you'll have to tell me what I got to do"

"You never camped before?" Lucy asked shocked. "Come with me, I got pictures" she slid of Adam's lap, taking his hand she lead him to the living room where the photos of the family's last camping trip were kept.

Stella picked up the rattle that was sat on the table and passed it to Joshua, looking up she noticed Danny wincing as he leaned across to reach the salt. "Is he still getting pain in his side?"

Lindsay looked over to her husband and Flack "Yeah it still plays him up a bit, he finds it difficult to carry the children on that side but considering what happens to other people who get shot like he did, he got of quite lightly"

"Yeah, I guess he did" Stella replied leaning down to pick up Joshua's rattle that he chucked on the floor.

"Mummy, someones at the door" Lucy called from the back door.

"Okay, I'm coming" Lindsay told her "You're first guest is arriving, Josh. Shall we greet them?" Lindsay smiled taking her son from Stella and carrying him to the front door.

Soon the garden was filled up with Robert Lindsay's dad, 6 of Joshua's little friends from the play group an their parents. Everyone had a great time celebrating the youngest Messer's first birthday, they played in Lucy and Joshua's little ball pit, played with balloons and ate barbecue food and birthday cake.

After Joshua's friends had all left Danny stood by the barbecue and watched his friends and family interacting. Lucy was sat in the ball pit with Adam throwing balls at each other, Stella and Lindsay were sat chatting on the bench and the end of the garden and Flack was sat on one of the plastic garden chairs with a sleeping Joshua in his arms talking to Robert. Danny was so glad he survived the shooting and worked hard to get better because seeing most of his friends and his family together like they were now was something he would never want to miss. He also decided that moving to Montana was one of the best decisions he'd ever made.

He knew it made Lindsay happier to be nearer to her friends graves and to her Father. The children seemed to be thriving in Montana as well, Lucy was doing really well at school, her teacher had told them that she was one of the best readers in her class and Joshua was doing well too, he was starting to pull himself up on the furniture. Danny knew it wouldn't be long before he started to walk. Danny himself, loved Montana. The air was cleaner here than in New York, it was quieter and just easier to get around as you didn't need to fight thought busy crowds or traffic to get anywhere. He missed New York, of course he did but he couldn't see himself ever wanting move back there. Montana was now his home.


End file.
